The pacific: a dogs story
by Chase Wolfe
Summary: An average dog forced to leave home due to WW2 gets sent to the islands of the pacific and learns that tragedy or triumph good character is better than talent
1. chapter 1

**Ok I'm completely new at this so please helpful criticism is appreciated but if all you do is pick apart the story then read something else okay here we go!!!!!! P.S. I don't own any of the balto characters**

 **The night before the cry**

 **Chapter one**

As the snow started to fall a certain dog was trodding through the lifeless streets when he reached the halfway point to his destination, an intersection in the middle of town. He looked at one of the news stands and read the date in his mind, "Saturday, December 6, 1941. Well at least I can sleep in tomorrow.' He thought and continued through the snow that was becoming apperantly thicker when he reached his destination, a single boiler room that was nice and warm. As he plodded through the room he heard a familiar voice..."hey Yukon, how's the weather down there?" His older sibling Kodi said. "It's fine...except for the carbon dioxide pollution every now and then." Yukon said referring to Kodis obvious height advantage. Then a voice spoke that stilled the whole room..."alright that's enough for a minute". Balto said

The two brothers nodded and Yukon took a seat then another voice filled the sounding like it was trying to change the subject..."as I was saying do you guys think America will enter the war?" Dingo said another of Yukon's brothers. "I don't know...but if we do we'll beat the axis powers just like the time we beat the bush plane." Kirby replied as if it still meant something years later to beat bush plane."Man Kirby, that's an awful steep uphill battle your talking about." An older friend of balto said. "It may be steep, but it would be short and sweet." Ralph snappily replied, " well I think..." for the next two hours that's all the dogs would talk about till finally one in the conversing group asked what Baltos opinion was, him and Yukon had been silent about the matter until they had asked him. He collected his thoughts and spoke what he thought "if we do enter the war it won't be 'short and sweet' instead I think it will be a hard fought struggle that in the end will cost a steep price." With that the room again fell silent then the dogs who had homes began to depart for the night and while Yukon was walking through the snow heading to his house, he could only think about how Kodi had always teased him about being 'average'. You see, ever since Kodi hit his growth spurt he was always taller, faster, and stronger than Yukon and Yukon was well, pretty average among the town dogs. So since than it could be said that Kodi was a jerk to Yukon but Yukon could care less, but deep down inside it does bother him. "Why, why does it bother me?" he wonders "maybe it's because he's a mail captain, or because he's a town hero." Whatever the case Yukon clings to what his mom told him long ago " it's not your talents that make you average or not it's your character." And mom was so right about that because when it came to character Yukon was well known for good character. So as the snow began to appear as a blanket in the air, little did Yukon know that starting tomorrow his character would be tested for the next four years.

 **So what do y'all think I'm a huge WW2 fan and thought I'd give a swing at the balto WW2 combo.**

 **I know slow start but you have to start somewhere**


	2. “Day of Infamy”

**Chapter two**

 **" The Day of Infamy "**

The next day was a normal Sunday morning for the town of nome. The usual church goers went to church and the rest of the town was waiting for lunch to be served at the local diner.

most of the dogs were at the boiler room taking the day easy cause not much happened on a Sunday in winter. So when the church finally let out for the day most of the congregation went to the diner for lunch but some decided to have lunch at their house.

Yukon's family were one of the few families who ate at their house. "Wow I'm starving, what's for lunch mom?" James his 12 year old owner said. "Your favorite, chicken pot pie." The boys mother Mrs.Ann replied. " Oh boy I just Love...chicken pot pie." James unenthusiasticly stated. "Aw c'mon you know you just Love chicken pot pie." The boy's father Mr.Dilan said.

"Ok I just Love it...hey dad do we get the football game on the radio yet?"

Now Yukon's family was unique in the fact that they were the only family who had a radio for normal use that and James dad was the town radio operator during the weekdays.

" I don't know but let's see." with that they turned the radio on to see what was on the air that day. At first the only thing on the air was Alaska weather reports, then finally a voice over the radio said, "Good after-noon, today's football game features the Chicago bears and the Green Bay packers in one of the best rivalry games of the year..." " yes, we got the packers again dad." James said with a spark in his voice.

"Good, I thought we got the game today...James, after we eat do you want to invite some friends over to listen to the game?" His dad said. James face lit up with joy written all over it, "yes that would be awesome!" "Okay after we eat you can invite them over to listen to the game." "Alright"!

So when the family was done eating James went to the diner and asked everyone inside if they wanted to come listen to the game. the reaction was just what James Dad expected, a house full of guests listening to the radio.

Everything went well until a sudden and serious voice from the radio filled the room with tragic news,

"We interrupt this program for Breaking News, the Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor, over 2000 are dead and over 3000 wounded, tune in tonight at 7:30 p.m. as president Roosevelt adresses the nation."

"Oh no...that means..."James began to mutter, "we're at war" his father finished. With that the room remained silent until someone finally asked, "Mr.Dilan...may we come over tonight to listen to president Roosevelt speak?" "I don't see why not." He calmly replied.

So as everyone started to think about the war they had now entered, Yukon decided to slip out of the house while no one was paying any attention to him. His destination, the grounded ship at the beach.

When he arrived he wasn't the only one there, Kodi was there as well but he was asking how to improve his sleddog traits..."so if I did everything you said, I could cut our total mail time delivery in half...right?" "Exactly." Balto replied, Then Yukon decided to make his entrance

"Hey dad, I've got some terrible news"..."What, your owners finally got rid of you." Kodi interrupted, Yukon

Gave him a glare that would've cut cold steel. "No, something even worse." Balto now anxious to hear what happened asked Yukon," so what happened?"

With that Yukon told his dad what happened, " the Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor." "What does that mean?" Kodi asked. "It means we're at war."Balto answered.

"Yes, so that means in a couple of days the army and the Marines will start drafting." Yukon said, " but I can't be drafted, I have to deliver the mail still."Kodi began as though he had been drafted. "I don't think the United States would draft a current mail dog." Balto said calmly. With that Balto and Yukon held a conversation that lasted most of the Sunday afternoon

That's one thing Balto liked about Yukon is that they could have a conversation about anything and everything and Yukon would learn both sides of the argument then choose a side, unlike Kodi, although he was lead dog he always chose his friends side whether they were right or wrong.

The conversation finally started to wind down. "Well, I've got to get home before 7:30, president Roosevelt is supposed to address the country tonight." Yukon said. "Okay, tell me what happens tomorrow alright?"

"Alright." Yukon replied then started his long walk back to his house.

He got to his house in the nick of time, as soon as he walked into the room he heard the voice of the radio

"Sunday, December 7, 1941, a day which will live in infamy. The United States was deliberately and suddenly attacked by the naval forces and air forces of the empire of Japan..." with that the speech lasted one hour but felt like a few minutes when the president came to his conclusion..."No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion the American people in their righteous might will win through absolute victory."

With that everyone went home thinking about the war they had just entered.


	3. War takes and Separates

**Chapter 3, war takes...and separates**

For the next few days the radio station of nome was busy as could be. So busy in fact that Mr.Dilan the radio operator had to hire help.

One night Mr Dilan came home with some rather important news...

"James, I've got something cool to tell you."

"Really?...what is it?" James asked

"The United States Army is going to build an air strip here as a line of defense." Mr.Dilan replied

"Wow! that is cool." James said ecstatically

" yes, it certainly is. The first army officials arrive tomorrow morning." Mr.Dilan said

"Aw man, right when I'm in school." James moaned

"Don't worry, they'll be here for a few weeks." His dad responded.

"Okay dad." As they went on with their night.

So as Yukon was listening he thought..." Wow, that is cool, I can't wait to tell dad tomorrow."

No one slept easy that night so the next morning so when the officials arrived everyone was half asleep while trying to work till one of the officials asked Mr.Dilan..."may we see the radio operator room?" "certainly" he replied and showed the officials the one room shack that had no insulation, a single fire place,

and looked as though it was built by a couple of twelve year olds. "Okay, better than some operator rooms I've seen." The first official stated. The second official began to speak..."Alright, another thing we need to do is draft the young men of nome. Is that understood Mr.Dilan?"

"Yes sir." He replied

So while the army was getting set up, Yukon was over at his dads place telling him about the recent turn of events..."so there going to build an air strip here as a line of defense dad." Yukon was states

"Really? That's interesting, when are they doing that?"

Balto asked

"In a couple of months"

" okay, when are they going to draft?"

" I don't know...why do you ask?"

"oh, just wondering."

But deep inside Balto knew that he couldn't bare To have a second child leave him possibly for forever, but

he also didn't want to show Yukon these feelings either. "Alright Yukon, I've got to go to your moms house." Balto said

"Okay I will talk to you later then dad."

With that Yukon plodded to his house.

When Mr.Dilan got home that night he had a rather long face but everything appeared to be normal until they sat down to eat and Mr.Dilan told James what was going on..."James, I've got something to tell you."

"What is it dad?" James asked

"It concerns your dog, Yukon."

"What about him?"

"Well after talking with the officials they said 'the Marines could really use a dog like him."

"Do you mean...they're going to take him?"

"yes James, they're going to take him."

Now James was starting to turn teary eyed, this was the only dog he had ever owned, and now they were taking him away but seeing he couldn't keep him any longer looked at his dad and with a sigh said..."okay dad, they can take him."

But with that Yukon's mind began racing

"What just happened?...did I just get drafted?...no I'm going to wake up tomorrow and this whole dream is going to be over."

Mr.Dilan began to speak "okay he gets registered and shipped off tomorrow for San Diego."

So as Yukon and James were going to sleep that night

Yukon's last thought that night was " I hope I see my family before I leave."

The next morning Mr.Dilan took Yukon to the registration office of nome and began filling out paperwork for Yukon. When he was done the official standing behind the table started a conversation with Mr.Dilan "well the ship heads out for San Diego at exactly 16:30 or 4:30 normal time. So make sure he's at the ship at least 30 minutes early."

"Yes sir" Mr.Dilan replied

With that Mr.Dilan walked out of the office and told Yukon "okay buddy, you've got about three hours to roam around town then you get shipped out." Mr.Dilan was really a nice guy and he hated that he had to give his sons only dog he'd ever owned away but his country needed Yukon and Mr Dilan always put his country first so holding back tears of sadness he calmly walked to his radio station to begin work for the day.

Yukon watched as Mr Dilan walked away, then started a slow trot to his dads house. When he got there his dad was watching the sky as he always did when he was thinking about Duke. Once on the deck Yukon sat and looked with his dad, then finally started a conversation.

"How's your day?"

"Good" Balto said still looking at the sky

"That's good" Yukon replied, then with a sigh looked at his dad and stated..."dad I've got to tell you something." Balto knew immediately that whatever Yukon had to say was important..." okay, what is it?" He inquisitively asked, then Yukon began to tell him

Dad...I've been drafted."

Balto mind began to race he didn't know whether to feel sad, mad, or glad that his son was going to serve his country then he asked Yukon...

"When do you ship out?"

"In about two hours." Yukon states

" ok, well...then Yukon...I'm going to tell you something..." balto said now fighting back tears

"What is it dad?"

"when you go off to battle, never forget what you're fighting for...when the times get rough, show your best quality...your character... and finally when you're in those pacific isles far away from home...don't let the enemy make you become heartless and cold."

When balto was done the two shook paws and Yukon walked away, and as he was walking away balto said

" make sure to tell your mom."

"Ok dad."

That's the last time Yukon would see his dad for the next 3 years.

he got back to the ship and waited to get shipped off then finally it set sail for San Diego. Yukon was deep in thought as he watched the town of nome disappear his one lingering thought was

"I hope I can see my family again."

With that he was going to San Diego for boot camp.

 **So what do you guys think? I was trying to capture an impossible moment(balto and Yukon)but I tried**


	4. The platoon

**Chapter 4**

 **the platoon**

As the ship pulled into the San Diego bay, Yukon could only note that this ship yard was the busiest ship yard he had ever seen, Ships were everywhere loaded with men, guns and supplies.

when his ship finally reached shore he was led to a dog yard, a fence with five dog houses that had been built to provide a place out of the rain.

When he walked into the dog yard the first thing that greeted him was an military like voice that made Yukon freeze in his tracks..."What's you're name private?"

At first Yukon's mind drew a blank then he looked at the officer from which he had heard the voice, it was an Australian Shepherd with a black back, white neck and stomach with tan patches around his shoulders and hips, he had green eyes that looked like he was a military dog and he was roughly a couple inches taller then Yukon.

So before Yukon could answer the first time the Aussie asked again in a more demanding tone of voice..."did you hear me? I said what is your name private!" Yukon Without hesitation answered

"Yukon sir"

The Aussie stared at Yukon with a blank face then finally spoke again

"Alright but from now on your name is private Yukon is that understood?"

" yes sir"

"Good, my name is lieutenant winters and that is how you will address me is that understood, town boy?"

"Yes sir lieutenant"

"okay we won't start actual training today but we will tomorrow, so be ready"

"yes sir"

"Now, you're the first one to arrive today so I'll tell you what's going on, you've been put into a platoon which is part of the first Marine division, of five scout dogs, so that's you, me, and three more are on their way, our job is to 'scout' the area for any of the enemy that was left behind and point them out so our boys aren't ambushed, is that clear?"

"Yes sir lieutenant"

"Okay there's five dog houses over there, one of them is mine so go pick yours out of the four." The Aussie said pointing to the direction of the dog houses Yukon looked and trotted to the dog houses but before he went he asked the Aussie a question

" lieutenant winters, where you born an Aussie or an American?"

Lieutenant winters glared at Yukon with the green eyes then answered

"I Bleed RED,WHITE, and BLUE but just so you know I'm an American."

With that Yukon trotted off to pick his dog house.

When Yukon got back to lieutenant winters, winters was giving another dog the same 'greeting' except this dog was an all yellow Labrador the same height as Yukon with brown eyes and he had a confused look on his face then lieutenant winters spoke

"Did you understand me? Farm boy"

The lab answered

"I don't know...I think so"

" so what's your name? Private"

"Happy"

The Aussie stared at the yellow lab

"I said, What's you're name private, not your mood"

"Happy sir" the lab responded

Now lieutenant winters was about to lose his cool with the yellow lab

" I'm going to ask you only one more time, What...is...

Your...name...private" the lab answered again

"I've already told you sir my name is Happy"

The Aussie looked at Happy with a glare that could've boiled cold water, then shook his head and turned to the next dog that lumbered through the gate, he was a German Shepherd a bit taller than Yukon with a tan stomach and neck, Black tail and back, with hazel eyes. Lieutenant winters went through the same questions then he asked him his name...

"What's your name private?"

"Travis sir" Travis said with a slight Texan accent

"Well Travis I have one question...where you German born or American?" All eyes were on the German Shepherd and without even thinking replied

"American sir."

Lieutenant winters studied the German Shepherd with careful eyes and finally spoke...

"Ok I believe you...for now"

As soon as winters was done interrogating Travis, the fifth and final dog of the platoon walked through the gate, he was a Dalmatian with black ears, black spots mixed with his white fur, he had blue eyes and was slightly shorter than Yukon. The lieutenant asked him the questions then finally asked him his name...

"What's your name private?"

"John...John from da Bronx" the Dalmatian said with a heavy Yankee accent

"Okay 'John from the Bronx' you're the last one so your dog house is already chosen for you, we start scout training tomorrow so get used to your 'buddies' today so we're not doing that tomorrow...is that understood?"

"Yeah i's hears youse" he said with that Yankee accent, but the Aussie wasn't about to take 'yeah' for an answer...

"When spoken to by an officer you repliy with a Yes Sir, is that understood private?" The lieutenant said almost yelling, but John seemed unphased then answered...

"Yeah sir"

The lieutenant let out a heavy sigh and ordered the platoon to line up and gave them instructions...

"Alright boys, you were brought here to become scouts and that's exactly what my job is as platoon leader, is to get you ready for those desolate, bloody, islands. Your only hope of making it back home is to obey my every order, this is the difference between life and death. The last thing I'm going to tell you is you're not a Marine yet, you've got to earn that status, it takes pride, it takes heart, it takes a willingness to work hard and last it takes character to become a Marine. Platoon dismissed for today." With that the lieutenant headed for his dog house leaving the rest of the platoon to get 'aquatinted' Yukon was the first to ask...

"Well Happy, Where are you from?"

The lab with a smile began to tell his tale

"Okay, I'm from a farm in Kansas, I was helping dad with farm work when I got drafted."

"Okay, how about you John?" Yukon asked

"I'm from da Bronx in New York City, it's a big place, bigger than dis town." John replied with that heavy Yankee accent, then they all looked at the German Shepard...

"Well Travis, Where are you from?" Yukon asked

"I'm from a ranch on the West Texas panhandle, doubt any of Y'all have ever heard of it." The platoon then looked at Yukon...

"Where are you from?" Happy asked

"Nome Alaska" Yukon said now thinking about home

"Wow, that's way up there" Happy replied

"Yes, it's way up there" Yukon restated

While Happy was conversing with Yukon, Travis and John began arguing as only Texans and New Yorkers do...

"I can't believe I got stuck in the same platoon as a stinkin Yankee"

"Hey watch it cowdog, I'm known for being a fighter"

"A Yankee with short dog syndrome could it get any worse"

As Yukon was watching he thought to himself

"This is going to be a long 6 weeks"

And trotted off to his dog house.

 **So what do y'all think? I'll add more back story to the characters as the story goes on**


	5. Becoming a Marine

**Chapter 5**

 **Becoming a Marine**

For the next six weeks the dogs went through intense, grueling,hard, Marine canine training, when one night The platoon was hiking through the mountains around San Diego the dogs were complaining...

"I don't even know why our platoon is da only canine platoon dat hikes voluntarily hikes during da weekends anyway." John said

"Yeah...I don't know how Lieutenant winters became lieutenant either" Happy replied

"Well it's obvious how he became lieutenant" Travis said

"Oh yeah, how?" The whole platoon asked

" because, he's an Australian Shepherd and everyone knows that they are some of the meanest dogs alive...them and wolf half breeds..."

Yukon cringed at that last sentence, then the platoon looked at Yukon and asked him...

"Well, you've been awful quiet What do you have to say about lieutenant winters?"

Now all the attention of the platoon had turned to Yukon, and after thinking about it he answered...

"Honestly...I think he's doing a better job than most of us would, I know at times he seems hard but just listen to him and everything will be fine"

The platoon mumbled and grumbled at Yukon's thought and kept hiking through the mountains.

When they got back from the hike the first one to meet them was the lieutenant and after inspecting the platoon he ordered them to return to the dog houses to get a good nights rest, he was about to return to his dog house when he noticed Yukon was lagging behind so the Aussie went over to Yukon to check out the situation...

"What's wrong with you private?" He said in a demanding voice

"Nothing sir" Yukon said trying to get out of a talk

"Private, as a friend I'm going to ask you, what's wrong?" The Aussie replied

Yukon knew he couldn't lie now so he told the Aussie..

"Sir, to be honest...why do we do all of these extra drills and hikes? We've been doing this for six weeks now and it doesn't even look like it's going to matter"

The lieutenant had a stern look on his face and answered the private...

"I'll tell you why we do all of these extra drills and hikes, because I know you can do it, I've been pushing you guys harder because you're better than the next canine platoon, I know it's in you to give it your all, and that's what it's going to take to win this war." The Aussie stated

"How do you know I have it in me to push harder?" Yukon asked

"Yukon, you've become one of the best soldiers I've ever seen, for the past six weeks you've pushed yourself and the others and showed character in doing so..." the lieutenant expressed

"Yes sir but where is that trait going to get me in life sir?" Yukon asked "Yukon...we ship off for the pacific tomorrow morning."

Yukon was shocked to hear that, that was the last thing he expected to hear from the lieutenant...

"I'm sorry sir, did I hear that right?"

"Yes, you did private." The Aussie answered

"That's...that's great I guess" Yukon mumbled

"Yes it's great news, now we won't know what island we're getting shipped off to till we're headed there."

"yes sir"

"Alright Private, time to turn in for the night and get a good nights rest to wake up early tomorrow morning."

"yes sir"

With that Yukon marched to his dog house and laid down thinking about being shipped off again, but this time they were going into the war...Yukon couldn't sleep easy that night and was wide awake when the lieutenant woke up the platoon at 4:00 in the morning

"Alright boys, pack it up and move it out."

"What are we doing?" Happy asked

"You're about to find out" the Aussie answered

"The sun isn't even up yet" Travis said

"I know, hurry it up, let's go" The Lieutenant said now sounding a bit irritated

The platoon arrived exactly 30 minutes ahead of schedule after a morning of gripping and complaining from John and Happy and when they reached the loading dock they had an all new reaction...

"Wait...we're being deployed today??" Happy asked

"Yes we sure are" lieutenant winters confirmed

"Yeeha, we're finally going to see some action" Travis yelled

"I hope you're ready for it Private Travis cause we're probably going to see a lot of it"

Then before they knew it the platoon along with other platoons of both dogs and men were on their way to the pacific isles.

The fleet of ships reached their destination without mishap. So while the dogs and men were waiting they finally got to hear the name of the island they were about to liberate...

"Guadalkenel??" Travis read

"No, I think it's pronounced Guadalkenal" John said

"Maybe it's Guacacanal" Happy said throwing his two cents in, in return he got blank stares from the rest of the platoon.

"I don't know what the name is or really care as long as we don't have to spend the rest of our lives here."

Yukon said, the others nodded in agreement.

As they were discussing what the name was, a bell went off signaling the present Marines and canine units to get ready and meet in the lower deck where all of the amphibious assault vehicles were, there the commander of the ship gave the boys one last speech before they landed on the beach...

" boys...you're about to embark on one of the most important events in history...for your the first American boys to invade the mighty Japanese empire

I hope all of you can prove that courage and character can defeat overwhelming odds, and of course, unfortunately...some of you will not be able to see the rewards of victory, instead you will be remembered as the brave Men who dared to set foot on that bloody island. But before you can be called Men..you must first prove it...by becoming...a Marine. Good luck and Gods speed."

When the commander finished his speech, other men started yelling giving orders...

"Alright boys, load up!"

Yukon and his platoon marched to their assault vehicle and climbed up the ramp into the vehicle. The ramp closed shut. Yukon's heart began racing and he started to breathe heavily, his adrenaline was at an all time high, then his body began shivering...then lieutenant winters looked over at Yukon and asked...

"Nervous?"

Yukon looked at him and with a smile nodded.

"Well don't be, it's dogs like you who survive these things."

Yukon after thinking about it for a second asked...

"Sir...What's it like...over there...on the island?"

"Just keep your head down and you'll be alright."

The Lieutenant answered calmly.

The lieutenant always had a way of getting Yukon to settle down. But as Yukon started to settle down the doors of the lower deck opened and Yukon looked to see a red light on the wall turn green then heard the rumble of the assault vehicles crank up and start heading out, until he felt his crank up and start moving. As his vehicle was moving towards the doors he heard a soldier shout...

"Here we go boys!!"

And Yukon looked just in time to see the first assault vehicle plunge into the sea, his adrenaline began kicking in again, he started to breathe heavily again, as he felt and saw his vehicle inching closer to the doors until his vehicle began ascending down into the water. As the assault vehicle was on its way to the island everyone inside was breathing heavily, shivering, some even had chattering teeth. Yukon could only hear the driver call out the distance between them and the island...

"500 yards...400 yards...300 yards...200 yards..." but the last time he spoke it was more than just distance..

"15 seconds...good luck, and Gods speed boys."

Then Yukon began to feel the vehicle beginning to slow down and his heart rate went sky rocketing...

The ramp began to drop...

 **So what do y'all think? I was literally shivering when I wrote this last part.**


	6. Guadalcanal

**Warning: rated T for descriptive war violence! Chapter 6**

 **Guadalcanal**

The moment the ramp touched the ground the Lieutenant ordered everyone off the vehicle and as soon as they got off, a relaxed American voice greeted them...

"Well, look who finally showed up to Guadalcanal"

The men let out sighs of relief and obeyed as their commanders took them to set up camp. As soon as the boys were done setting up camp the lieutenant gathered them together and told them what was going to happen...

"Alright boys, we won't see any action today... but tomorrow we march to the river to secure the north side of Henderson airfield, our job is to hold that line at all costs." With that he gave them a salute and dismissed them for the day.

The dogs were together when Lieutenant winters came up to them and told them what their mission was...

"Alright dog faces, our mission is to scout the area ahead of the Marines so they can march safely through to the river...then when they reach the river our job is to help our boys hold the line and survive." The platoon responded with a "yes sir".

The next day after another sleepless night the canine platoon was ordered to leave an hour before the 1 Marine Division to scout the area the marines would be marching through. As the canine platoon was scouting the area they came to a Japanese regiment that was already dead and had a taste of what death looked like, dead stinking, rotting corpses sprawled out in a trench with flies swarming everywhere and maggots and other bugs crawling all over the dead muddy bodies...

"Oh my goodness, is that a Jap??" Happy asked

"Sure is private" the Aussie replied

"Man...he looks like a cow that's been dead for a couple of days" Travis stated

"He looks like something dat da rats eat from da gutter" John said

"Alright enough gazing at dead corpses, keep moving boys" the lieutenant ordered and the dogs kept moving on

The platoon moved stealthily through the dense, hot, humid and muggy jungle knowing that stealth was the difference between life and death. As they were moving every now and then they would here an exotic bird squawking in the distance but had found no sign of the Japs as they had reached their destination...the river.

About an hour later the 1 Marine Division arrived at the river ready to dig in and set up camp for the night the boys were in pretty good spirits they had a trench that ran along the river about 100 yards then the river met the ocean and on the other side of the camp the trench was about 75 yards long into the dense jungle.

As the boys were enjoying supper the Lieutenant gave them orders for the night...

"Alright boys you already know what you're doing and know how to do it, at least I hope. the last thing to remember is do not fall asleep when on night watch" The boys responded with a "yes sir"

Lieutenant winters came to his platoon and pointed at Happy..."Private Happy you're on night watch tonight, don't fall asleep" Happy nodded

So as night settled, the boys in the trench, and Happy were wide awake when about one in the morning the boys heard rustling of leaves across the river, at first they didn't know what to do until...a flare from across the river lit up the sky and ground below revealing shapes of men trying to cross the river then... the river lit up with enemy fire, the boys had no choice but to fire back.

"Their coming at us!!!" a U.S Marine shouted, with that the whole Marine Division woke up to the ring of 50.cal machine guns, the Lieutenant began placing the Marines in the trench.

The dog platoon woke up to the sounds of war and after figuring out what was going on lieutenant winters got the platoon and ordered them...

"Alright boys, get to the flanks of the trench and make sure our boys don't get flanked!!!!"

So as the battle raged Yukon and Travis were sent to the ocean part of the trench but on their way they were under constant fire then they heard a marine shout...

"Get the mortar out..hurry!!!"

They also passed by a couple of wounded marines, one was shot dead and fell on Yukon as they were crawling...

"What in the world?!?! Travis help me get out!!!!"

"I'm coming Yukon" Travis was in front of Yukon and had to crawl back to get to him when he finally did he helped Yukon get the now lifeless body off of him, and after looking at his dog tag Yukon with a weak voice said...

"He wasn't even 18 yet"

"Yup, Yukon we've got to keep moving" Travis answed

"You're right, lets go"

So the two began moving again when after what seemed like hours they finally reached the flank of the river, when Yukon began ecstatically stated...

"There's the ocean!!! We've made it to the flank Travis"

"Yeah, we made it alright"

They looked up the river to see and hear the battle raging as both sides of the river were lit up with machine gunfire and the cries of dying boys, when all at once Yukon heard something wading in the river and when he looked a flare lit up the ground and right across the river the Japs were crossing!!

"Travis they're crossing, what do we do?" Yukon whispered

"What do we do?? I'll tell you what we do we let the Marines know, that's what we do" Travis answered

Then the two dogs began barking and got the attention of the Lieutenant in the trench, when he finally heard the barking he looked at the end of the river to see Japs trying to cross...

"Their flanking us!!!! You 6 boys move your machine guns to the end of the river, hurry!!!"

the boys quickly grabbed their machine guns and moved it to the end of the river and opened up fire

The battle dragged on into the early morning hours when finally after three assaults to break through the line the Japanese gave up for the night, the next day the marines stared at the dead bodies in the river and on the riverbank...

"Wow, we chewed em up last night"

"Yeah, they just kept coming"

"Nothing got past our 50.cals"

"Nothing alive anyway"...

That's the conversation between the marines the next morning while the dogs were brought together at the set up camp...

"Did Y'all have any Japs try to flank you?" Travis asks

"No, theze was probably too scared of us" John replies

"Maybe, but that wasn't the case on our end" Yukon says

"I don't care, flank us or not you guys did good last night but we still have a long way to go" lieutenant winters said

So that night as everyone accept the guards were fast asleep the Japanese tried to break through the line again...

"Here they come boys!!!!" The Lieutenant ordered

"Man the fifty cals!!"

"C'mon boys get up and go to the trench!!"

Then a panicked shout filled the air...

"Their breaking through!!!"

"Oh no their breaking through I've got to do something" Yukon thought so he ran to the first machine gunner he could find and got his attention by barking, the machine gunner looked at Yukon kinda funny but after he heard the shout he began talking to himself...

"Now where did I put that gun block, goodnight!!! I can't find it well I've got to do something so..."

He then picked up the burning hot, seventy five pound, fifty cal machine gun with his bare hands and cradled the barrel of the gun in his elbow and followed Yukon to the fight

They were fighting in pitch blackness, with the only visible light of any kind the blaze from the guns, and in the thick of it was Yukon and the gunner he was now with, they tracked on through the night hunting down any Japanese that had gotten behind the line, the machine gunners name? John Basoline.

So as they were going around killing off the Japs, a Jap came up From behind Basoline and jumped him, Basoline dropped the gun and began fighting hand to hand combat rolling around in the dirt...then Yukon got in on the action jumping on the Jap while he was down, finally Basoline broke away reached for his pistol and shot the Jap. The Jap was on top of Yukon one second then dead the next...

"This is why I hate war" Yukon thought to himself

But they had no time to think about the dead because there was still Japanese behind American lines, Basoline then picked up the machine gun again and began cutting down the Japanese that were behind the lines.

When all was set and done the marines in the trench were surrounded with dead, stinking, rotting corpses but they had kept the Japanese from taking the airfield.

Daylight found Basoline and Yukon in a fox hole passed out from the night before, Basoline had 3rd degree burns all over his arm and elbow but that didn't bother him he was alive, him and his now new best friend...Yukon's injuries were different than from Basolines, Yukon was bruised in his rib cage, he had sore paws, plus nicked and scratched everywhere around his body, but he to didn't care, cause he was alive with his new best friend

"You boys alright?" A marine asked

Basoline rolled over in his fox hole and looked at the marine...

"I'm alive aren't I?"

"Well... yeah?"

"Then I'm alright"

And rolled back over, Yukon couldn't agree more that he had decided to sleep in today, but just as they were about to go back to sleep a commander came up to Basoline and Yukon...

"Attention!"

Basoline and Yukon sat up in attention, the commander after surveying the field of dead Japanese he spoke...

"You boys did a good job holding the line last night, and now I'm ordering that the 1 Marine Division fall back to the beachhead, you've done a good job soldier"

Basoline replied with a yes sir and grabbed his stuff and rejoined his Division and returned to the beachhead

When they got to the beachhead Yukon's platoon was already there and waiting for him...

"Where in tarnation have you been soldier!!!" Lieutenant winters demanded

"I've been holding the line sir" Yukon replied

"I ordered us to march back to the beachhead 3 hours ago and here you are now, late with a marine who probably did nothing but sleep last night!!!!"

The lieutenant from the marine division was chewing out Basoline too when the commander walked up to Basoline and looking at his burns on his arms said...

"The boys in the trench told me about what you did last night and so I'm putting your name in for a medal of heroism" The commander walked back to his headquarters

The platoon looked at both Basoline and Yukon and shook their heads in disbelief as they were dismissed for the day.

The days and nights that followed were nothing but bombardment from the Japanese until finally the Americans defeated the Japanese left Guadalcanal in American possession

Yukon and his platoon were going back to the ship, Yukon looked at the island one last time and with a sigh thought to himself...

"I'll never forget that 17 year old who died on that first night"

Then he got in the assault vehicle that took him and his platoon back to the ship. Once on the ship the Marines were dismissed for the day, so Yukon and Travis decided to go with a couple Marines to get some hot coffee for the first time in weeks,as they walked into the cafeteria a rough voice greeted them..

"Chow time isn't until 14:00"

The boys looked at each other and asked...

"We just wanted to know if we could get some jo"

The cook looked at the boys and said...

"You want some coffee? Sure I'll get you some coffee"

The boys sat down at a table and waited as the cook got cups and a coffee pot and poured the coffee into the cups. After the boys smelled and held the coffee cups the cook looked at the boys and asked...

"So...was it really that bad?"

One of the boys answered...

"Does it look like it?"

A moment of silence followed then a marine asked the cook...

"Have you ever even heard of Guadalcanal before?"

the cook with a smile answered

"Heard of it? It's on the front page of every newspaper back home from San Diego to New York, That and you guys...the first Marine Division... you're Hero's back home"

The boys and dogs were silent after that, when Yukon and Travis got back to their room, the mail caller began calling names of the platoons...

"Machine gun platoon...medical platoon...canine platoon..."

 **Alright what do y'all think? By the way John Basoline was indeed a real hero at Guadalcanal, look him up if you ever get a chance.**

 **P.S. 10% of the dialogue is from the Pacific  a mini series on HBO**


	7. Letters from home

**Chapter Seven**

 **Letters from Home**

As the platoons gathered round the mail man, the air was filled with elation and happiness...

"Yes, my letter finally made it!"

"I can't wait to read it!"

"Alright I got two letters!!"

Some of the boys tore the letters open like a child opens a present on Christmas Day, while others took extreme care in opening their letters so they wouldn't cause a single tear in the envelope.

The dogs got their mail and went back to the cafeteria with a sense of elation that they had never felt before...everyone except John that is, you see the Yankee Dalmatian had been raised an orphan and without a friend in the world. The platoon asked John...

"Hey where's your letter?"

John now agitated snapped back

"I don't gots no family or friends, end of the story"

The platoon fell silent for a couple seconds then Yukon said...

"Alright Happy, you open your letter first and read it to us...are you okay with that?"

Happy with a smile that even made John smile answered...

"Yeah, I'm fine with that"

Happy then opened up the letter and began to read...

" _Dear Happy,_

 _We've been doing just fine since you've left, although we miss you very much. Dad wanted you to know that the farm is doing alright, the wheat did really well this year as well as the corn._ _Your brothers and sisters are helping out with the farm while you're gone, although their not the same help you are to your dad. all of your friends miss you and although none of them got drafted, wish they could be with you in the pacific. The whole town thinks that you're a hero, they have posters everywhere with your platoon on it! Well, we all miss you and wish you'll be home in time for Christmas._

 _Sincerely, Mom and Dad."_

The platoon gazed at Happy in amazement as he read the letter until Travis finally said...

"Wow...they really do think we're hero's back home"

"Yeah, I can't believe it" John pitched in

"Well that's crazy, okay Travis you're next...what's your letter say?" Yukon asked trying to hurry up the process

"Well we have a problem if y'all want me to read one letter...because I got two" Travis answered

"Two???" The dogs looked at Travis with questioning faces

"Yep, one from my brother Sam and another from...a dear friend???"

"Okay, Well...which one are you going to read First?" John asked

"I guess the letter from Sam...cause I don't know who sent the other letter"

"I don't care which one you read just read one!" one of the dogs said sounding impatient...

"Ok, just hold your horses y'all, talk about impatient..." Travis mumbled to himself, and then he began to read the letter...

" _Dear Travis_

 _Howdy little brother from the ranch, I was just writing to you to encourage you to keep on fighting, give you the daily report on the ranch, and ask you something we forgot to ask before you left. Well first things first, good job on the front lines at Guadalcanal! When the news paper first came out they had your platoon name on it!!! Dad was so proud that his boy is doing fine and well over there in the jungles of Asia, and when the town read the news they all congratulated Dad and told him..."that's what real heroes do" anyways Dads real proud of you, so keep it up!!! The second thing is the ranch report, well so far it's been a year of drought, we haven't had any home grown alfalfa hay to feed any of the cows or horses, I know you really care about them especially Midnight, (just trying to give you a laugh) anyway everyone else is doing alright back here on the town which brings me to my question...do you still like that border collie?_

 _From your big brother, Sam Shepherd"_

The dogs stared at Travis with bewildered looks...

"Whose Midnight?" John asked

"Even better question whose the border collie?"Happy insists

"Wow, they think we're heroes in Texas too" Yukon states

After allowing the dogs to ask questions Travis finally answered...

"Well for starters, Midnight is a horse back home who I really hate, I mean he hates me and I Hate him, we don't exactly get along you might say. The second thing, there's this border collie in town back home that I kinda liked, Her name was Kaliee collie, I didn't think she ever noticed me before, that or she was really good at ignoring...whatever the case I was determined to impress her, but how is a cowdog supposed to impress a pedigree border collie? I mean she's got everything from talent to spare with looks to match, she's your typical border collie as far as looks go, black and white with a long, sharp nose...anyway I was gonna ask her out one night but before I could I got drafted so that's my story about Kailee the border collie"

The platoon gazed at Travis...

"Ok, what's the other letter say???" They asked wanting to know who sent the letter

"I don't know...let's see!!" Travis answered enthusiastically, and opened up the mysterious letter and began to read...

" _Dear Travis_

 _You probably don't know who sent this letter or why for that matter but by the end of this letter you should know the answers to those questions. Alright I'll tell you why I wrote to you, Travis...I've been reading the papers and I've also been worried sick that you've been killed by now, if it's not so would you please write me back? I know that I've never payed much attention on the outside to you and if you have hard feelings I understand but, could you please write me back? That's the another thing, I'm sorry that I've never given you much attention, you see my friends think that country boys and town girls like me don't match but I think the opposite. If your hearts not already cold from war...would you at least accept my apology?_

 _From the girl you liked but regrets she never gave you the time of day,_

 _Kaliee Collie_

 _P.S. your brother Sam told me about how you were going to ask me the night out...I would've Happily said yes"_

The platoon stared at Travis who now had a country long smile, then erupted with jubilee for their Texan friend...

"I can't believe she wrote you a letter!!"

"A letter? I can't believe she actually likes him!!"

"What are you going to write her back, huh??"

The dogs pestered until finally Yukon asked...

"Hey man, what are you going to write her back...I mean you can't leave her hanging like that"

the John and Happy agreed...

"Yeah, you can't leave her wondering about you" Happy said

"It wouldn't be wise not to write her back cowdog"John the Yankee said

"As much as I hate to say it...we finally agree on something" Travis told the Yankee

In all of the commotion the platoon forgot that they still had one letter to read...Yukon's

So as the rest of the platoon was talking about Travis's letter Yukon went to his bunk and read his letter to himself...

" _Dear Yukon,_

 _Well everything is what you would expect from a normal winter here, Kodi won another WinerClassic race, Dingo caught the Buck of the year while him and his owner were hunting, your sisters are doing okay helping at the corner market, although we still haven't heard from Aleu._ _Well, we were just writing to you to tell you what your siblings are doing._

 _best of wishes, Mom and Dad."_

With warm tears streaming down his face he thought to himself..."they don't even miss me" he then folded his paper up and put it in his duffel bag and joined his platoon again

When he got back the boys were full of excitement almost as much as when they got their letters then the admiral of the United States Navy walked up in front of the boys and shouted...

"Alright boys, alright settle down"

The Marines hushed to a dead silence then the admiral spoke again...

"No doubt by now you've heard rumors that we'll be spending a few months in Australia...well I'm here to put those rumors to rest...we're not going to Australia, instead we're going to regroup here at Guadalcanal and begin a new campaign, the island hopping campaign, this new campaign will begin with the Solomon Islands and with Gods speed, end up in Tokyo, company dismissed"

The boys let out sighs of discontent and went back to their bunks

the dogs were especially disheartened with the results that the admiral had given them...

"I can't believe it, a couple more months on this stupid island!!!" John said

"The worst part is we have to fight on all of those other islands when we're ready" Happy said

"Island hopping, that sounds time consuming" Travis asked

"It is time consuming, but that's what war does...it takes" Yukon growled

So the dogs could only shake their heads and think about what they were going to write their family and friends back.


	8. The Price Of Victory

**Chapter Eight**

 **The Price Of Victory**

The marines waited anxiously on the ships just off the coast of an heavily armed island...the island hopping campaign had been a major success to this point but now lay their toughest assignment in nearly a year...Tarawa

The admiral gathered the marines on the deck of the ship and gave them the normal pre-invasion speech...

"Alright boys, Tarawa is just another step in the island hopping campaign to reach the Japanese homeland. Be prepared for the usual trench and pillbox warfare and as always, watch each other's back. Gods speed and good luck boys"

A marine behind the boys began to shout...

"Let's go boys, load up!!!"

The marines began loading once again into the assault vehicles, the dogs headed to their assault vehicle and loaded up, as soon as they were ready in the vehicle they heard a ringing bell which signaled the vehicles to close its ramp

This experience was different from Guadalcanal though, here at Tarawa you had battle hardened marines mixed in with baby face, inexperienced 18 year old boys whereas at Guadalcanal they were all inexperienced baby faced boys.

The marines then heard a second bell and felt the assault vehicles start their engines, a third bell sounded, two doors at the front of the ship opened, the vehicles began treading to the door in unison

Yukon was feeling just like he felt before every island liberation he had taken part of but then something inside him began telling him that something wasn't quite right, he looked at Travis and asked in whisper...

"Hey Travis, do you feel alright?"

Travis stared intently at the doors ahead and without looking at Yukon, answered back in a whisper...

"No...Yukon...something ain't right"

The dogs were trying to keep their conversation to themselves because the last thing they needed was for lieutenant winters to find out they were talking about their feelings

So on the assault vehicles went until finally their vehicle plunged into the sea, the men with the canine platoon were veterans of Guadalcanal so they knew what to expect

Everything was going fine until a radio contacted the driver of the vehicle...

"Assault vehicle nine ten thousand there's a coral reef that surrounds the island and making it impossible for the vehicles to get past so once you hit the reef let your men wade onto shore, is that understood?"

The driver looked at his radio for a second, then picked up and signaled back a "Rodger"

On the assault vehicle went until platoon felt and heard a giant thud and they knew the vehicle had run aground the coral reef and the driver looked at the marines and with a shrug said...

"Well, I guess this is your stop. Good luck boys"

The driver lowered the ramp down, what followed next caught everybody by surprise, the marines and dogs to were about wade one hundred yards to the beach when suddenly machine guns and mortars ripped through the air all around them

Once the marines and dogs heard the first bullet hiss by they knew they were under fire...

"Oh no!! Come on guys we have to get to the beach!!!

The marines and dogs were running as fast as they possibly could under the weight of all their gear, ammo, supplies, guns and backpacks when the first of several marines were shot dead...

"Henery!!!" The closest marine shouted and stopped when another marine passing by grabbed his backpack and started dragging him towards the shore...

"But henery!!"

"Listen, if we don't make it to shore that'll be you too!"

The sad marine nodded and began running again

The dogs finally made it to shore but not without their fair share of marine casualties. they reached their checkpoint which was the bottom of a small sand dune where beach became land and they looked back at all of the dead bodies floating in the water...

"Most of them didn't even make it to shore" Happy said grimly

"That's only the first wave, we still got plenty more coming" Lieutenant winters reassures

"Alright boys start making your way inland" winters ordered, the platoon began belly crawling towards the enemy

It took the Marines one day of bloody, intense fighting to secure the beach but the Japanese still held the interior part of the island

The marines were tired but they knew the biggest challenge was still in front of them, the second day of the liberation of Tarawa was supposed to be the bloodiest day since the days of the Guadalcanal campaign

The dogs were together relaying their thoughts to each other...

"This is stupid" Happy stated

"What's stupid?" John asked

"War" Yukon replied

"I don't see why the humans have to drag us into their war, just because we're dogs from America" John remarked

The dogs didn't realize it but Lieutenant winters happened to walk upon the conversation and disappointed with his platoon asked...

"Alright, if you don't know why our boys fight...why do you?"

The dogs looked at the lieutenant with startled and confused looks and before any of them could answer the lieutenant asked again...

"You heard me, why do you fight?"

After thinking about it John was the first to answer...

"Because I gots nothing better to do"

The lieutenant nodded and turned his head to the rest of the platoon and asked...

"Well? Why do you fight?"

Happy then started to answer slowly...

"I...I guess to...make my Mom and Dad proud"

"Alright, I'll take that answer...what about you Travis?" The Lieutenant asked

Travis stared at the ground and shuffled his paws on the sand, then after thinking about it he looked at the lieutenant and answered...

"I fight because...I'm from Texas, it's just...expected of us"

The lieutenant swung his gaze towards Yukon...

"Alright Yukon, you're it, why do you fight?"

Yukon thought about it, And after thinking about it he gave his answer...

"I fight... for the protection of my family behind us"

Lieutenant winters stood there for a second and after looking over his platoon asked...

"Alright, you wanna know why I fight?...I'll tell you the reason why I fight...I fight for the men and dogs next to me...that's what it's all about, It's not about the pride or protecting what's behind me or even because I got nothing better to do... I fight for you guys standing next to me." The Lieutenant when he had finished, examined his platoon and after a deep sigh finished...

"Alright boys, get a good nights rest, we start before dawn tomorrow" and trotted off into the pitch black dark

The dogs sat in eerie silence, no one knew what to say or ask, each of the dogs was thinking about how they could follow up the lieutenants speech but they couldn't, everything they thought about saying seemed ill prepared compared to the lieutenant, they eventually decided that silence was the best choice of action to end the night

The next morning Yukon was sound asleep when suddenly he felt this shaking sensation, he awoke and turned to see...Travis???

"C'mon Yukon time to wake up" he whispered

Yukon shook off the cobwebs of sleep, then looked to see the sun wasn't even up yet...

"Hey Travis, is everyone else up yet?"

"No, just you, me and lieutenant winters"

"Okay let me ask you one more thing...why are we the only three up at this hour?" Yukon asked hoping to get a justifiable reason for getting woke up that early...

"I don't know" Travis started..."Lieutenant winters just woke me up and said to wake you up then meet him over by the west flank"

Yukon thought about it for a moment...

"Ok, I'm coming" Yukon answered and slowly pulled himself up

As he started to trot following Travis, Yukon could still see the stars up in the sky, it was quiet, still and for a moment reminded Yukon of a quiet early morning back home, he took a deep sigh and just wished that the silence wouldn't be shattered by the sounds of gun shots and men and...boys...crying or screaming in pain and agony from being shot or being blown to pieces by a grenade or stray mortar shell but there was nothing Yukon could do about it except warn the marines who followed him of eminent danger ahead

By the time Yukon met up with Travis and lieutenant winters, the marines were already up and waiting, the newer boys anxiously awaiting for their first fire fight, almost as though they were oblivious to the fact that they were about to battle face to face with death, the older boys on the other hand knew exactly what was about to happen and were in no rush to go into battle

Lieutenant winters was sitting calmly near the N.C.Os, they were discussing their battle plans when Yukon trotted up...

"So if you take the second and third battalion to flank the left I'll take the first and fourth battalion to flank the right while the first and second armored division pushes right up the middle with the second marines division for infantry support"

"Sounds good to me"

"With any luck we should have the Japs pinned and surrounded by tomorrow"

"Yes sir, sounds like a plan but I have one question...what's our casualty rate supposed to be?"

"Don't tell the men, but it's supposed to be about one thousand men KIA"

"One thousand???"

"Yes, one thousand"

Yukon's morale sank when he heard that...

"Alright, I'll see you tonight" one of the N.C.Os said then grabbed his map and put his helmet on then paced in the direction from which Yukon had just came

Lieutenant winters came up to Yukon and Travis, and looked at them both directly in the eyes, the look of the lieutenants eyes told them that he was disheartened...

"Okay boys, you both heard the men...we're expecting heavy casualties, so be on guard, one slip can be the difference between two Japs dead or forty Americans dead...one more thing...don't be afraid to die, because in the end...dogs are still mans best friend"

Yukon and Travis both nodded then the sound of marching marines filled the air, then the scouts came to the dogs and one took a knee and told lieutenant winters...

"Alright boy...lead the way" lieutenant winters then stood up and motioned for Yukon and Travis to follow and turned into the direction of the Japanese lines and started at a trot, the two dogs quickly got up on their feet and followed lieutenant winters into the thicket

The dogs only job was to 'scout' the way for the marines to alert them of snipers and land mines

The first ten minutes went by with out mishap...the night was quickly becoming morning when the marines heard the first gun shot tear through the island jungle like a knife...unfortunately the bullet had an American marines name written on it...

"Get down!!!" An officer shouted, as soon as the marines got down the entire jungle lit up with machine guns, rifles and mortars

Yukon and Travis were caught right in the middle of it when they heard lieutenant winters shout...

"Get up boys and help the wounded!!"

The dogs began making their way towards the wounded, they weren't hard to find because they were everywhere! Men with blown off legs and men shot in the chest littered the ground to point where marines were stepping on them

Yukon and Travis tried everything they could to save lives but for most of them their wounds proved fatal

The fighting was fierce, hard and anything but enjoyable. When the marines thought they were safe a Japanese machine gun nest or sniper would open up on them.

The dogs were doing everything they possibly could, they tried smelling but strong smells all over the island threw the dogs off, so the dogs tried to use their hearing instead but the sounds of battle was heard all over the tiny island, the dogs were trying to save marines from being ambushed, but to no avail...marines were going to die

At the end of the day the Marines had pinned the Japanese into a small section of the island, Yukon and the rest of the canine platoon hoped that the Japanese would give up instead of fighting...

"It just doesn't make sense!" John exclaimed

"To us it doesn't, but to them it does" Travis stated

"I know surrender sounds bad, but being killed sounds even worse!" John argues back

"John, listen the Japanese think they're better off being mowed to pieces one by one rather than surrendering to general MacArthur" Yukon points out

"Yeah, but why" John asks inquisitively

"Because they think death at the hands of their enemy is more honorable than cowardly surrendering" lieutenant winters interjects

The platoon remained silent as lieutenant winters continues...

"Tomorrow, if we have to pick them off one by one then that's exactly what we're going to do."

The final day of the battle for Tarawa was hard, grueling, and the Japanese were indeed going to fight to the last man

The Marines launched one final assault on the dug in Japanese which resulted in the liberation of the Island, the men let out shouts of joy and happiness for they had survived the bloodiest, American involved battle of the war to that point

As Yukon was walking among the dead bodies of both the Americans and Japanese he could only feel as though this war had accomplished nothing but death and broken hearts

The admiral of the fleet came to shore and had everyone gathered, the men were anxious to hear what the admiral had to say then the moment comes everyone becomes quiet, the admiral begins to speak...

"Boys...we lost a lot of men here in the past few days, but it was worth it, for now we hold a key airstrip in the pacific and now we show the world by raising our flag"

the admiral pointed to a flag pole some marines had set up, the marines began raising the American flag when another marine began playing the trumpet

Yukon was sitting next to a reporter who was writing while the marines were raising the flag and while the reporter was writing he was talking to himself...

"One thousand one hundred and twenty six of our galant Marines will never return, but that's a small price to pay for victory on the road to Tokyo"

As the reporter was wrote the last sentence Yukon thought to himself...

"Yeah, but what will be the price of victory before we get there?"

 **So what do y'all think? I know the story's slow but right now in the story it's only 1943**


	9. Enemies rise

**Chapter nine**

 **Enemies** **Rise**

 **Tokyo Japan: January 1944, Emperor Hirohitos Palace...**

It was a brisk morning when a well respected soldier and his dog walked through the halls of the Palace and came to a door where another soldier greets them...

"Good morning Oki, the Emperor has been expecting you"

And opened the door that led into the Emperors throne room

The man named Oki takes his hat off and carefully steps towards the throne silently, when he reaches the throne he bows before the throne and asks...

"You sent for me, Emperor?"

The Emperor Without hesitation responds...

"Yes Oki, you may arise"

Oki stands up at attention

"I suppose you're asking yourself why I sent for you" the Emperor asks

"Yes my lord" Oki replies

"I'm sure that you're aware that the Americans have been pushing through our island defenses in the south by means of 'island hopping'"

"Yes my lord"

"Alright I'll get to the point then, one of the reasons for them being able to avoid our traps, mine fields and camouflaged defenses is there canine units. I know that you served your country well in the Alaskan campaigns with your canine platoon, which is why I want you to go to the Philippines and slow the Americans down maybe even stop them, whatever the cost...take out the American canine units, is that understood?"

"Yes my lord" Oki says with a bow

"It's settled then, the fate of the Japanese empire rests in your hands to slow the American advance down"

"Yes my lord"

"Very good. Start preparing immediately, you ship off next week." The Emperor concludes

"Yes, thank you my lord" Oki says with one final bow and was heading out the door when the Emperor calls out to Oki once more...

"Oki, don't fail the Empire"

Oki swallows a knot growing in his throat and keeps walking until he's out the doors.

Back at Okis hotel room, he and his dog Edo begin laying out plans for stopping the Americans in the Philippines...

"Okay Edo, if we set up traps here and here they would be forced to take this route instead where we will be waiting for them" Oki said looking at a map of the Philippines...

"Of course, we really won't know what we're up against until we get to the Philippines" Oki finished walking away from the desk

Oki sat in a chair and began studying a couple of photographs taken from the island hopping campaigns of the American canine platoon, all the while with Edo looking over his shoulder...

"Looks like your typical American canine platoon...diverse in breed and arrogant thought" Oki mumbles to himself

After studying the photos Oki sets them down on the desk with the map, let's a yawn out in the middle of a stretch, bids Edo goodnight and goes to his personal bedroom and turns out the light

After watching his master do his usual bedtime routine, Edo trots to the desk to study the photos one more time, the lamp over the desk was never turned off so he had one last chance to find something out...

"Now, where was that photo? Aha, right here now let me see, hmm German Shepherd...no. Yellow Lab...no. Ah, their he is... the red Husky, now something about those eyes tell me I've seen him before...but where?"

After studying the photo for a while something in Edos mind clicks... and all at once everything falls into place and an evil grin appears on his face, he then looks at the world map and finds Alaska and in the already dim lit room whispers with a scary tone of voice...

"I've got you, right...where...I...want you"

 **Tarawa island: same night**

Yukon was having a hard time sleeping under the star filled sky, for the past couple of weeks he could barely get any sleep and when he did, all he could think about was the weird dreams he had...

"something about a wolf? Or maybe it was a raven?" Yukon thought to himself, Either way He was just hoping to get some sleep without being interrupted by these crazy dreams

So as Yukon was drifting off to sleep he began hearing a voice, a rather familiar voice actually. He knew he was dreaming when he saw snow covered mountains surrounding him. suddenly the voice seemed to be coming from all directions and he had no idea what was going on! At first he couldn't hear the voice clearly...

"Great, here we go again" Yukon thought while rolling his eyes

But after a couple short seconds of jumbled sounds Yukon heard a voice crystal clear. At first he was to scared to comprehend what he had just heard, but after piecing his mind back together he heard the voice call him...

" _Yukon_ "

Yukon now terrified replies back...

"Who...who are you? And what do you want?"

Before Yukon knew what was going on, he was blinded and knocked down by a flash of white light, when he regained his sight, the first thing he spotted was a white wolf, he examined the wolf with questioning and curiosity filled eyes until finally the white wolf spoke...

 _"Yukon, I am Aniu, you don't know much about_ _me and probably never will...Yukon, I don't have much_ _time but I must warn you of an evil force that has_ _risen up against you and your family_..." the wolf says

"Aniu??...what evil force??" Yukon asks

 _"Yukon, you must stop this opposing force before_ _it reaches your family_ "

"Aniu...I still don't know who you are or what forces you're talking about, it all sounds crazy!"

Aniu let out a sigh...

 _"Yukon...I was your fathers mother"_

Yukon couldn't believe it and when he could finally speak he could only stutter...

"Y...you're...you're my...my...grandmother?"

Aniu nodded...

"How?...Why?...When?...What???" Yukon replied

 _"I'm sorry but there isn't enough time to answer any_ _of your questions, now you must go, fight for the right_ _and stop this treacherous force_ " Aniu concludes

"But I still don't know what forces you're talking about!" Yukon asks

 _"You will know, in good time_ " Aniu finishes

"Aniu, how can one dog stop a force he can't even see!"

" _Yukon, let me tell you something I learned from your_ _dad; a dog cannot make this journey alone, but_ _maybe_ _a_ _wolf_ _can_."

Before Yukon could ask another question he was blinded by white light and when he could see again he was back on the starry sky island...

"Oh, it was just a dream, but it all seemed so real" he thought to himself

"I'll forget I ever had this stupid dream, it's probably from lack of sleep anyways" Yukon concluded but throughout the nights and days that followed the more he tried to forget it, the more he remembered it

The platoon knew something was wrong with Yukon, but they didn't know what, they tried everything they could to help him but Yukon wasn't about to tell his friends about the wild, unbelievable dream he had. so his platoon over the course of time slowly gave up trying to help him, everyone except for Travis that is. when the platoon finally left Tarawa, there was a sense that something still wasn't quite right but they pressed on anyhow.

 **So what do y'all think? I know sorry for the short chapter, but hey shout out to Kepler11c for an awesome villain though**


	10. Chapter 10: Brothers

**Chapter 10**

 **Brothers**

 **September 20, 1944:**

Today was an extra special day, because today was the day that the marines got to kick back and relax from normal tasks. So the day found most of the marines gathered on top of the deck of the battleship, listening and enjoying their fellow soldiers singing different songs about their home or girl that was waiting for them back in the States. Normally you would find Yukon here with the platoon, but ever since he had that weird dream that's all he could think about!!

"What does it mean? Why can't I just stop thinking about it? Who's the evil force?" These were the thoughts that roamed through Yukon's mind weeks after the dream as he lay in his room. while he was lost in these thoughts Yukon heard another voice that scared the death out of him...

"Hey Yukon, you in here?"

It was only Travis, Yukon let out a sigh of relief...

"Yeah, I'm in here" Yukon responds

"Ok, I'm not interrupting a nap or anything am I?" Travis asks...

"No, I'm just laying here and thinking" Yukon says as he let's his breath out...

"Miss home?" Travis asks with sympathy in his voice

Yukons famous wolfish smile appeared on his face. he couldn't help it, it's a trait that Yukon had inherited from his dad, and Balto couldn't deny that

"Kinda" Yukon answered with a happy expression on his face

Yukon was glad to have a good friend like Travis to go through the War with and over the years that Yukon had spent with Travis, Yukon had learned one thing...once you earned a Texans trust and loyalty, they would fight to the death with you, no matter the reason, because you or "Y'all" as Travis would say were friends

Travis nodded in agreement and after searching the floor looked at Yukon with a stern face and asked...

"Yukon, What's wrong with you? I mean ever since we left Tarawa you've been depressed"

Travis had obviously caught Yukon off guard with that question...

"Why do you need to know?" Yukon snapped back

"Because, as your friend, I want to see you with us enjoying life without a care in the world, living every day as if it was our last, but as a soldier I want to see you performing everything that a great soldier does...not sitting in a dark room like your losing your mind" Travis replied starting to sound like Lieutenant Winters

Yukon began thinking about it, and as seconds turned into minutes he looked into Travis eyes and began searching, Yukon found nothing but innocence behind the German Shepherds hazel eyes. After quickly yanking his head away, Yukon took a deep breath and began to tell his tale...

"While we were on Tarawa, I had the craziest dream I think that I've ever had, I remember it vividly but long story short, a white wolf which claimed to be my grandma told me about another evil force rising up and that it was up to me to defeat it" Yukon glanced back at Travis who had an crazy expression on his face...

"I know, it sounds kinda stupid" Yukon adds

Travis shakes his head in disagreement after hearing that...

"No, it's not stupid, it's just...I had a dream with a white wolf in it the same night I got drafted..."

Yukon was in shock after hearing this...

"What? What was it about" Yukon asked almost in disbelief...

"Well, if I remember it right...the wolf told me that I was gonna to go help someone fend off an evil force, but of course, that dream happened years ago, so I don't really remember any of it" Travis finished

"Wow, that's crazy" Yukon comments

"Tell me about it" Travis replies

After sitting in silence Travis finally asks Yukon...

"So are you feeling better now? Or are you going to lay here all day again in self pity?"

Boy was Travis persistent Yukon thought to himself...

"Fine, you talked me out of it, I'll go up to the deck"

"Well c'mon, the marines will be asleep by the time you make it up there" Travis said with a spark of youth in his voice

So as Yukon walked up the stairs with Travis, he felt as though a heavy burden had been lifted off his back and was filled with youthful energy again

When they got to the top of the deck, one of the boys was about to sing another song...

"Alright boys, this song means a lot to me, especially since...Well just listen and y'all figure it out"

You could hear chatter among the men, mostly asking each other who the marine was and what song he was attempting to sing when finally his guitar all tuned up, he began singing...

 _"There's a yellow rose in Texas that I'm gonna see No other soldier knows her, no soldier only me, she cried so when I left her, it liked to broke my heart! And if I ever find her we never more shall part!_

 _She's the sweetest rose of color this soldier ever knew! Her eyes were bright as diamonds they sparked like the dew! You may talk about your dearest May and sang of Rosa lee, But the yellow rose of Texas beats the Bells of Tennessee!_

 _Where the rio grande is flowing and the starry sky's are bright! She walks along the river in the quiet summer night! She thinks if I remember when we met long ago! I promised to come back again and not to leave her so!_

 _I promised to come back again and not to leave her so!"_

The marines all let out cheers at the end of the song because although most of the marines didn't have anything to do with Texas they could all relate somehow to the song

Travis turned his head and told Yukon...

"That's one of my favorite songs"

Yukon smiled and said...

"I can see why"

The rest of the day the marines sang songs and boxed with each other on the deck of the ship but like all good things it came to an end and as Yukon and Travis were heading for their room Lieutenant winters stopped them to give them some interesting information...

"Hey boys, I've got some news for you, you ready to invade the Philippines?"

The dogs gave him blank stares...

"The Philippines?" Yukon asks

"Yes, Leyte to be exact" winters specifies

"Oh boy, another fight for our lives" Travis groaned

"Well see that's the news, most of the battle hardened marines are staying behind while we charge the beach with fresh new recruits" the lieutenant informs

"What do you mean" Yukon asks in a questioning tone of voice

"I mean we're charging the island with complete idiot, rookies for infantry units" winters answers

"Well that's not making it any easier on us" Travis comments

"No, it's not, but we got about a month before we land on Leyte so enjoy it. Well I better get to bed. Good night boys" the lieutenant ended the conversation.

In the Philippines Oki was making his way around the island of Leyte inspecting every trap, bunker and pill box the Japanese could build...

"Make sure you cover the traps in good camouflage" he would tell the men

"How long do you think it will be before the Americans try to invade the Philippines?" One soldier asked

"Who knows, it could be days, weeks, or months before they try to invade us" Oki answered

"Whatever the case, make sure that the bunkers are nice and strong, because the American Air Force will try bombing us soon" another captain pitched in

So the Japanese soldiers continued their work all the while Edo was lurking around the island memorizing strategic points and preparing for the canine platoon.

 **October 20th 1944**

The day had come, Yukon was in his room reading a newspaper when he heard a bell ringing...it was the signal to get ready and head to the lower loading dock where him and the marines would load into the assault vehicles. When everyone had finally made it to the loading dock, the marines commander walked in and got the marines attention...

"Boys, I know that for most of you this is your first battle, so you don't know what it's like over there on the island...when you're all alone, almost dead and out of water...which is why I hope that all of you young boys have a praying mother back home. Boys you've never seen anything like this before and I guarantee it that you will either become men by war, or dead by battle. Good luck boys and God bless." The commander told the boys

The marines then started loading up onto the assault vehicles and when they were all ready, the ramps to the vehicles closed, a bell rang signaling the vehicles to start their engines, when the engines had started, the bell rang again and the doors that led to the ocean opened up, the vehicles began making their way towards the doors. The chatter among the marines was small and limited...

"Want one?" One marine asked

"No, I don't smoke" the other replies

"Really?"

"Yeah"

"How about some gum?" Another marine asks

"Sure...thanks" the other answers

Yukon looks at Travis with a smile on his face and whispers in his ear...

"Rookies"

Travis chuckled to himself, and before any of the dogs knew it, they were on their way to the beach under the constant bombardment of heavy artillery guns

The ride to the beach was slow and quiet until the driver told the marines it was time to get off...

"Well this is as far as I go, good luck and Gods speed boys" he told the men

As soon as Yukon got off the vehicle the beach was sprayed with machine gun fire, dead bodies dropped to the ground as though they were weightless, mortars exploded all around them on the beach as marines and dogs alike ran for cover only to have a sergeant yell at them...

"Get off this stinking, mud hole of a beach and move up boys!!!" He would yell

The boys could only do what the sergeant told them to do and get off the beach before the next wave of marines came

Soon the cries of dying men calling for their mothers joined the sounds of hissing bullets and exploding shells all over the beach but there was nothing more that the dogs could do except move on into the jungle.

Once inland the dogs began moving through the steaming,hot jungle trying to smell for land mines and pill boxes when they were ambushed by snipers and machine gunners, lieutenant winters commanded the dogs to hit the dirt, but to no avail, they had the platoon pinned down to the point that nobody could move without getting shot

The platoon was starting to become restless under the constant rain of bullets when Travis took a bullet to the shoulder, Yukon seeing Travis go down crawled over to his wounded friend...

"Travis, Travis! Are you ok?!?!"

"I think so...are y'all ok?" He responded

Yukon smiled and was about to take Travis back to the beach when suddenly the area in between Travis,Yukon and the rest of the platoon was showered with artillery and mortar shells, the platoon leader then ordered a temporary retreat but before Yukon(who was now carrying a wounded Travis on his back) could rejoin the platoon he was knocked unconscious by a mortar shell.

When the platoon made it to a safe place they rested and took role call...

"John"

"Here"

"Happy"

"Present"

"Travis"

The air was silent...

"Private Travis?"

Still no answer...

Lieutenant winters breathed a heavy sigh...

"Oh boy, Private Yukon?"

The air remained silent...

"Oh no, Private Yukon?"

Nothing...

"What do we do now?" Happy asked a little worried

"Are we going back for them?" John asked

"I'm sorry boys but there's nothing we can do until tomorrow...until we find out what happened to them I'm afraid to say that they've been...K.I.A."

The dogs sat in erie silence as none of them had ever had to deal with one K.I.A. before much less two...but there something inside Lieutenant winters said they were alive and he was determined to see the fate of his two best soldiers.

When Yukon had finally regained his consciousness he was in a Japanese pill box bruised and scratched but still alive. He surveyed the room and found Travis asleep in a corner or at least he hoped he was asleep

Yukon was just about to get up and check on Travis when he heard a rough voice behind him...

"Taking a nap on the job are we?"

Yukon whipped his head around to see a dark shadow...

"No...I wasn't...who are you anyway?"

The shadow moved into the light and Yukon saw a big, proud, black and white Siberian husky with a smirk on his face...

"Oh, you'll find out ...and unlike your siblings you will pay"

Yukon had a stone face because he didn't want this dog to know he was indeed scared...

"What siblings?" Yukon asked trying to play it off...

"Your sister"

"What sister?" Yukon rebuked

"...Alue"

 **So what do y'all think? Sorry about the delay, my basketball team made the playoffs and we went all the way to the semifinals so that probably had something to do with the delay.**

 **P.S. I don't own any of the bobby Horton songs**


	11. Real hero’s

**Chapter Eleven**

 **Real hero's**

Back in the dark, grim bunker, Yukon jerked his head back in surprise " Aleu? We thought she was dead" he thought to himself before he answered Edo...

"Aleu...alive??? Impossible, she died during the great famine of the thirty's"

The black husky smirked...

"so everyone else thought"

Yukon cocked his head to the side and with a puzzled expression on his face he asked...

"You didn't kill her...did you?"

Edo gave Yukon a steel piercing glare...

"No...she escaped my grasp before I ever got the chance"

Yukon let out a sigh of relief

"But now that I've got you..." Edo began in a dark tone of voice

"It's the perfect bait for the perfect trap" the black husky chuckled

"What do you plan on doing with her" Yukon snapped

"I intend on...finishing the job"

"What job" Yukon asked in disgust

Edo let out a heavy sigh

"Back during the Aluetian island campaigns, it was my job to take out the canine platoons on the island, instead her rogue, guerrilla force disgraced me from the royal emperor, so now I look to restore my honor...by finishing her off!!"

Yukon was now filled with anger and rage, no one was going to touch his sister so long as he was on guard!! But before he could do anything, they heard artillery guns off in the distance and heard someone yell...

"Edo! Edo come here, quick!!"

Edo jerked his head back to Yukon and growled...

"We shall settle this mater later!"

And lumbered out of the bunker, Yukon's eyes following Edo every step of the way like a hawk

"Those almost sound like American guns" Yukon said to himself,then trotted over to Travis who had awaken while Edo was monologing but kept his silence so he didn't make his consciousness known to Edo...

"How does he know that you have a sister?" Travis asked

"Beats me, I didn't even know she was alive!" Yukon replied

"Well, they say every day you learn something new" Travis implies

"Ha ha, very funny smart guy, are you coming or not" Yukon boldly states

"Ok, I'm coming, I'm coming" Travis answers

As soon as they made their way to the bunkers door, artillery shells began pounding the ground just outside the bunker knocking Travis and Yukon back onto the ground. The bombardment lasted several minutes before it stopped and not long after it had stopped, the dogs heard the shouts and gunfire of charging U.S. marines...

"We're saved Travis! The platoon came back for us!"

But before they could escape the bunker, Edo entered in...

"What are you doing!! Trying to escape? Oh if I had the power to, I would kill you both!!" Edo growled

"you can try but you won't succeed!" Travis yelled back

"Don't waste my time with garbage talk cowdog!!" Edo replies

"he won't have to after we've taken care of you!" A booming voice came from across the room

All three dogs turned and looked to see lieutenant winters standing in front of the doorway with reinforcements

Edo scanned over his options glancing at both Yukon and lieutenant winters before making a mad dash out of a foxhole in the bunker, but before he fled the scene, he turned back and locked eyes with Yukon and shouted...

"This isn't over yet Wolfdog!!! I will get you and the rest of your family!"

Then he turned and ran out into the steamy jungle

Yukon and Travis turned to lieutenant winters with ecstatic looks on their faces, Yukon was the first to speak...

"You came back for us...why? I mean we were as good as dead and you still came to get us?"

The old Aussie had a radiant glow on his face that made him look just as young as the platoon was, he examined Yukon and Travis for a moment or two than with a sigh told the boys...

"Don't you see? No matter dead or alive, we never leave a man or dog, behind. That's what real marines do"

Yukon's countenance fell once he heard this, he knew it now he had to prove it.

Later that night as the rest of the platoon was fast asleep, Yukon was in deep thought...

"My whole life I've been second place to Kodi and now, I have the chance to finally be better than him at something...yes... I will save Alue, bring her back home and be the hero my brother never could! He was just a coward anyway, but now I will be the hero in dads eyes for once and he will be second place!"

As these warped thoughts rushed through his mind, a white wolf strolled up behind him and asked...

"So, Yukon, what are you thinking about?"

"Oh nothing, just being a hero" he replied casually

"I see, now, who are you trying to be a hero for?" The wolf responded

"My dad" Yukon said with pride

The white wolf nodded

"Is he the only one?"

"No, I also kinda want to be recognized as a great hero by my mom and the town...like my dad after the serum run" Yukon hesitates

The wolf took a sigh

"Yukon, is being a hero the only thing that matters to you?"

Yukon was taken back by this question and turned not realizing that it was a wolf, to answer...

"I...I don't know...it's the only thing that matters to Kodi"

The wolf gazed at Yukon

"Yukon, I thought you were better than this, I thought that you wouldn't fall for the same glory illusion that caught Steele and your brother" the wolf huffed

"Look, I've been second place to Kodi my whole life, while he's been the 'golden child' I've just been pushed to the side like...yesterday's news" Yukon argues

"No, your family loves you" the white wolf insists

"Do they really? Because I don't even think they've read my letters and I sure know that they haven't sent me a letter since Guadalcanal"

"You're wrong"

"What?" Yukon asks in disbelief

"You're wrong, your dad has clung on to every word of every letter that you've sent home to him"

"Yeah, right, he probably wouldn't even care if I died tomorrow"

"You do know that you're the only son of his to be drafted in this war?"

"Yeah, Kodi and Dingo got cold feet before I got shipped out" Yukon murmurs

The wolf sighed again

"Do you think you're the only one in this war?"

Yukon was about to snap back but after thinking about it, he took a deep breath and after studying the ground, gave his answer...

"I...I guess I'm not the only one"

"Yukon, everyone else is just as tired of this war as you are, but right now you must focus on the main objective"

Yukon nodded and was just about to bid the wolf goodnight when the wolf vanished from out of his sight, Yukon looked around but it was nowhere to be found, after putting two and two together he came to the conclusion that the wolf was Aniu.

Later that night, Yukon wasn't thinking about being a hero anymore, he was thinking about going home instead and just when he thought he was all alone, Travis lumbered up to him and after studying the sad countenance of his friend he asked...

"Hey, what's wrong Yukon?"

"Oh nothing, I'm just...thinking"

"Thinking? About what?"

Yukon started to tear up

"Home"

The German Shepherd came up beside the Husky when Yukon lost his strength to stand and collapsed onto Travis and buried his face into Travis's shoulder letting out tears and sobs, Travis embraced his strengthless friend...

"What's wrong buddy?" Travis asked

"I just want to go back home" Yukon cried

The German Shepherd embraced the Husky tighter

"We all do Yukon...we all do"

The next morning Yukon and Travis were eating breakfast that consisted of coffee, oatmeal and applesauce when Happy ran up to them huffing and puffing...

"Hey guys...you might...wanta come...hear this" Happy struggled to say

Yukon and Travis stared at the yellow lab and with smiles followed Happy to a shed where some local Philippino guerrillas and a couple of American marines had gathered around a radio...

"What's happening?" Yukon asked

"You'll find out" John answered

The shed was filled with excitement when everyone fell into a hush. a voice came over the radio...

"People of the Philippines: I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God our forces stand again on Philippine soil — soil consecrated in the blood of our two peoples. We have come dedicated and committed to the task of destroying every vestige of enemy control over your daily lives, and of restoring upon a foundation of indestructible strength, the liberties of your people."

Travis eyes lit up with excitement

"Do y'all know who this is?"

The dogs thought about it and shook their heads

"This is General. Douglas MacArthur!" Travis exclaimed

The marines and guerrillas exchanged cheers and gifts after hearing the General give his speech, marine morale was high but little did the marines know what the next few months would hold.

The next few months were treacherous as the marines marched across the Philippines liberating the islands from the die hard Japanese, it seemed as though for every one inch of ground they won, two marines earned white crosses.

The battles seemed endless until one day in February, 1945 the canine platoon was ordered to pull back and regroup with another company of marines that were going to invade a different island.

All the while the dogs couldn't care one way or another they were just glad to have a short reprieve from the fighting...

"Hey Yukon, do you think we'll run into that crazy lunatic dog on this next island?" Happy asked

"I sure hope not" Yukon replied

"If we do, I'll make sure that mutt gets pounded into a Texas sized mud hole!!!" Travis defended

"Whatever the case, I think we need to be ready for this next island, because they said that this is supposed to be the marines version of D-Day" Lieutenant winters interjects

"Really? What's the islands name?" Yukon asked

The lieutenant strained to remember

"Well, if I can remember it right, I think the islands name is...Iwo Jima"

 **Well what do y'all think? Sorry about the slow updates, it seems as though life has hit me on the head with a baseball bat if you know what I mean**


	12. Island of Honor

**Chapter twelve**

 **Island of Honour**

 **Date:**

 **February 19th:**

 **Location:**

 **the Coast of Iwo Jima:**

Yukon was breathing nervously, taking care into each breath, as he and his platoon made their way to the loading dock. he had been in at least a hundred or so beachhead landings since the start of the war, but he always felt nervous before landing on the beach.

The rest of the platoons idea about beach landings had changed since the start of the war though, they could care less, instead they had come to terms with death, his friends didn't care if they died...it was how they were going to die that bothered them.

The marines and dogs gathered in the loading dock, the air was filled with a sense of duty. The marines were finally called to attention when the marine commander walked into the loading dock...

"One quick thing before we get started, please tell me if the Japs have better coffee than us" the commander broke the silence

The marines let out small chuckles

"Now on to a more serious note, boys...do you realize that we're two islands away from the Japanese homeland?"

The commander paused for a moment giving the marines time to think about their accomplishments...

"All the while during those battle weary days and dark fearful nights on these forsaken islands, you boys proved me wrong, you did the impossible and suffered through the unbearable, each of you picked up your fellow soldier when he was down"

The commander stopped, and holding back tears, he was pouring his heart into the marines ears

"You showed poise under duress, you kept going on no matter who got killed next, be it a captain or first class private...you moved forward anyway"

The room grew deathly quiet

"Out there on those unknown islands, you showed real character...American character"

The commander now had warm tears streaming down his face

"But most important of all... you boys grew up into Soldiers, Marines, and Greatest of all...Men"

The marines stood in eerie silence until the commander gave his marines one more order

"Just...try to make it back...alive, that is all"

When the commander finished, several bells sounded signaling that it was time to get into the amphibious assault vehicles, Yukon and the platoon were led to their vehicle, once inside of the vehicle the ramp door clanked shut

"I still hate that noise" Yukon stated

One of the marines in the vehicle dug in his pocket and pulled out some beef jerky and offered it to his fellow marines...

"Want some? It was fresh, ten days ago"

Different marines took some, while others denied the kind gesture

Yukon smiled then asked the lieutenant a question...

"So, what's the deal with this island?"

Lieutenant winters thought about it

"Well...the initial first landing of marines took place about an hour ago, so the part of landing under fire should be over, we're just going in to point out any isolated snipers and machine gunners"

"Ok, sounds like we get the easy job today" Yukon said with a spark of hope in his voice

"Yeah...easy as in 'here, you go get shot so we know where to shoot' kinda easy" John grumbled

The dogs remained silent after that all the way till they reached the beach where about 30 yards in they were confronted by a 15 foot wall of volcanic ash but before climbing the wall, they were given their first orders of the day...

"So if you send the canine patrol over here that's probably where they need them most" a marine officer pointed at a map

"Great, we'll head that way right now" The men gathered their stuff

"So how bad was the beach landing?" The canine marine asked

"You know it wasn't bad at all, I don't think they've even shot at us all day" The officer concludes

"Huh, weird" the canine marine finishes

So as the canine marine was walking away he was looking at his map...

"Hmm...looks like our best bet at reaching that side of the island would be to take this rou..."

While in mid sentence the next thing the dogs heard was a hiss, something get hit and fall to the ground. they looked back to see the marine lying on the ground in a pool of blood but before they could react lieutenant winters barked orders...

"Get off the beach!!!!"

Then it happened, the Japanese unleashed the full fledged fury of the Japanese empire, Yukon snapped his head in the direction of the mountain to see it light up like the night sky on Fourth of July

The dogs natural reaction was to find a foxhole and that's just what they did

Yukon began panicking and finally made it to a foxhole where he slung his backpack to the ground then began breathing nervously again in his foxhole when lieutenant winters found him, the lieutenant stared at Yukon before shaking Him and asking...

"You wanta live?"

The red husky slowly nodded his head

"Then get off the beach!"

Yukon nodded again and grabbed his backpack then proceeded to climb up the 15 foot ash wall that was ahead of him

At the top of the hill, Yukon was surveying the all dead and wounded bodies that lay in the field of volcanic ash when lieutenant winters met him with the rest of the platoon...

"Alright men, our objective has changed, now we're going to help what wounded we can" the lieutenant gave orders

The rest of the platoon scanned the field filled with wounded and dying marines...the battle to save marine lives began.

For the next few days the dogs worked ferociously saving lives, delivering ammo to isolated marines and pointing out Jap snipers and machine gun nests. Until one particular day the marines were looking over there mission...

"So you're going to scale mount suribachi and set up a perimeter"

"Yes sir"

"Then the second squad will bring in their special assignment up there"

"Yes sir, alright boys you heard the captain, let's move out"

The first squad gathered there stuff and were about to march up when one marine asked...

"Are we taking any dogs?"

The captain glanced at the dogs and picked out two...

"Uh...yes...you're taking the yellow lab and the German Shepherd"

The marine nodded his head and called...

"Alright, come on Travis, come on Happy"

The two dogs lumbered up the hill with the marines and when they had secured the perimeter the captain ordered the second squad to move out, but before they left he gave the leader some special instructions...

"...So when he gets to the top of the hill check his backpack, got it?"

The marine had a smile on his face

"Yes sir"

"Alright, very good"

The second squad proceeded to march up the mountain taking John with them as their reconnaissance dog. The captain went over into his tent and came out with something in his hand, called for lieutenant winters and put the object in his backpack...

"Alright boy, you know what to do"

The lieutenant gave a stern bark then motioned for Yukon to come follow him. Once hiking up the mountain Yukon became curious of their mission...

"Do you mind if I ask what's inside the backpack Lieutenant?"

"You'll see when we get there" the lieutenant responded

As the two dogs were making their way up the mount, Yukon sensed something wasn't quite right...

"Do you smell that lieutenant?"

"Yeah,I do"

"What do you think it is?"

"I'm not sure but I think it's a..."

Before the lieutenant could finish his sentence, a mortar shell exploded knocking Yukon over, and when he got back up onto all fours, he saw the worst possible scenario he could've dreamed! He looked over at his bloody lieutenant...

"Winters!!!"

The lieutenant had taken a mortar shell fragment hit to the side of his body,the lieutenant was bloody and missing a limp and a paw, but unbelievably, he was still alive...

"Winters, are you ok? You don't look good, man what am I going to do..." Yukon panics

the lieutenant reached for his backpack and grabbed Yukon's collar pulling his mouth inches away from Yukon's ear...

"Yukon, I can't make it up this mountain...just make sure that this backpack makes it too the top of the mountain..."

Yukon nodded

"Yes sir, I'll be right back right after I get this to the top" Yukon began to scurry up the mountain

When Yukon reached the top, he had tears streaming down his face and his teeth clenched onto the lieutenants backpack

The marines looked at Yukon with questioning faces but then took the lieutenants backpack...

"Ah, here she is, old glory"

The marines pulled out the American flag and hooked it up to a pole, but before they raised the flag, Yukon was sprinting down the mountain to check on winters. He arrived to find his Aussie friend staring at ground with a glaze in his eyes...

"Lieutenant, are you okay?"

The lieutenant slowly looked at Yukon

"Yukon, before I die, please let me see the boys raise old glory"

Yukon gazed at the lieutenant with tears streaming down his face

"Absolutely lieutenant, absolutely"

Yukon then drug the lieutenant to spot where they could see the marines raising the flag...

"There she goes" the lieutenant said

The dogs watched in awe as the marines raised the flag over Iwo Jima, when it was up the marines on top of the mountain all let out cheers of joy, from there it was a chain reaction all the way to the beach, marines cheered

Yukon was amazed by the sight, then looked over at his lieutenant, who was on the ground...deceased. Yukon collapsed over the lieutenants lifeless body and started to cry again when the rest of the platoon found him and after realizing what had happened, they each took a moment of silence.

After taking a moment of silence, Yukon stood up wiping away his tears, he looked like a marine now, and looked at each of his men with an emotionless face and ordered...

"Alright boys, let's move out" Yukon motions to his marines

But before they left they grabbed the lieutenants dog tag, then marched on to another fight.

A couple days later, Yukon was scouting an isolated area of the island when he heard footsteps around him. Due to his half wolf senses, he could smell and hear better than any average dog, and he knew these weren't his company pals. After trying to locate the threat he started to trot away but before he could, a big black husky jumped on his back...

"Thought you could leave without a fight?"

Yukon began to countermeasure the black husky by rolling him off his back, after gaining his balance he went on the offensive, Yukon lunged at Edo with all his might only to bite the dust...

"Little slow now aren't we?" Edo remarked

Yukon hopped back to his feet and waited for Edo to make the attack, Yukon knew that if he could get Edo on the ground he would have the advantage. Instead they began to pace in circle waiting for the other to make the attack,

after circling a couple of times Edo made the first move, he tried to go for Yukon's neck and the quick kill only to miss and be slung to the ground by Yukon

"Alright, you win, no need to kill me now" Edo pleaded

Edo looked into Yukon's eyes and saw the yellow coming out in them, Yukon could feel something rising up inside of him too, something wild, untamed and...heartless

Yukon knew exactly what it was, it was the wolf coming out in him and now he had a choice to make, he could let out the wild wolf inside of him and mercilessly murder Edo or...he could tame it

Edo watched as Yukon's eyes changed from the heartless bright yellow wolf color back to their normal warm hazel color. Yukon took a sigh and was about to answer Edo when artillery shells began to rain down on them

Edo saw his opportunity and escaped again, Yukon watched as Edo darted up the mountain...

"I'll get you next time" Yukon thought to himself and retreated back to his camp

When he made it to the camp the platoon was there and waiting for him...

"Are you ok Yukon? You don't look right" Happy asked

"Yeah, your eyes are all...yellow" Travis pointed out

"Almost a...wolf yellow" John followed

Yukon looked at his platoon, they all had questioning faces. Yukon sighed, he knew that he couldn't hide it any longer and his platoon deserved the truth. Yukon hung his head low to the ground

"Guys the reason why my eyes are yellow is because I'm...half...wolf"

The platoon stared at Yukon

"Half...wolf?" Happy asked

Yukon nodded

"Well, at least you're not a full blood wolf" John replied

The platoon shared a laugh and continued on with their next mission.

Iwo Jima was finally conquered in the following weeks, the marines had lost over 6000 men in what would be the bloodiest battle of World War Two. But before the canine platoon got shipped off of the island, they made a white cross and put it under the American flag, in memory of their fallen lieutenant...

 _"Here lies the body of lieutenant winters. A marine who died performing a marines work. Lt.Winters was more than a marine, he was a teacher, friend, father like figure, brother."_

 _Lieutenant Winters_

 _1923-1945_

 _ **So what do y'all think? Pretty sad with lieutenant winters and all, but if you check the history books, John Basoline actually died at Iwo Jima.**_


	13. Wars End

**Chapter thirteen**

 **Wars end**

Yukon was studying a map in the cafeteria of a battleship when Travis trotted up...

"Hey Yukon, what ya looking at?" Travis asked

"A map" Yukon responded coolly

"A map...of what?"

"Okinawa"

"Oki-what?"

"Okinawa, an island off the coast of Japan"

"Oh...are we taking it?" Travis asked

"Yup" Yukon answered

"Ok, when?"

Yukon was getting kinda annoyed by all of the questions, he turned his head to stare at Travis...

"Tomorrow, anymore questions?"

Travis could hear a sound of irritation in Yukon's voice now...

"Uhh...no sir" Travis saved

"Ok, now, I've got some studying to do, so if I could get some quiet it would be appreciated" Yukon requested

The German Shepherd nodded his head and trotted out of the cafeteria back to the card room where the rest of the platoon was...

"So? Where we going" John asked

"Okinawa" Travis responded

"Where's that?" Happy inquired with a raised eyebrow

"Off the coast of Japan" Travis answered

"Wow...this should be interesting" John stated

"You're telling me" Travis agreed

So while the dogs were chatting about the next island, Yukon was thinking about revenge...

" _You may have escaped my grasp last time Edo, but this time I'll make sure I show no mercy! Yes, sweet revenge will soon be mine!!!"_

As Yukon was thinking to himself when the chaplains dog walked by the doors, now his name was Chester. He was a regular Saint Bernard as far as hair color, he was a bit taller and bigger than Yukon was but that didn't stop them from being friends...

"Hey Yukon, what are you looking at?"the big Saint Bernard asked

"Uh nothing, just a map" Yukon answered a bit startled

"I see, Okinawa I presume?"

"Yes sir"

"Hmm, looks like a good plan" Chester stated

"Really?" Yukon asked

"Indeed it does my boy"

"Thank you sir, it probably needs a tweak or two then it'll be ready to go" Yukon said enthusiastically

Chester let out a chuckle then looked at Yukon with a stern face and asked...

"Yukon, do you know why I'm here?"

Yukon looked at the floor then looked back at Chester...

"No sir, I have no idea why you're here"

"I'm here to help you" Chester said

"Help me...with what?" Yukon asked trying not to be disrespectful

"Help you with your problem that's consuming the way you think and do things"

"What problem is that"

"Your revenge problem"

Yukon froze like a statue...

"What do you mean?"

Chester took a sigh

"Yukon, you've been so consumed with revenge over this Edo character, that you've neglected your own platoon!"

"Yeah, and what do you want me to do about it?!" Yukon shouted

"Forget about it, let it go...he never hurt Alue...did he" Chester calmly said

Yukon started thinking

"You know, my owner the chaplain, he says that 'revenge is of the LORD' and he will do as he pleases...Yukon, Edos country is fighting a war it will lose, maybe you could show him some compassion and let him go free" Chester narrowed it down

Yukon gave Chester a glazed look then turned his head to the ground...

"I'll think about it"

Chester hung his head

"If you do kill him, just know that an untamed, violent, wild wolf would've done the same thing" Chester finished as he walked out of the room

Yukon cringed hard at the last sentence

" _Well, I am part wolf right? So If I do kill Edo, I'll just have my dad to blame"_ Yukon thought

But the more Yukon thought this, the more uneasy he became, then he remembered the story that his dad told him as a young pup...

 _"The reason I let Steele live is because I knew, that if I killed him I would be a wanted dog for the rest of my life, and it would be further proof that wolves and dogs don't mix."_

Yukon thought about the story then finally made a decision...

" _Okay, I won't kill him if he surrenders."_

The next morning, the air was filled with gloom, the marines had a terrible nights rest, a horrible breakfast of oatmeal, bananas, sausages and chocolate bars, and physically looked like something that came from the Black Death era

The marines all crowded into the loading dock, the commander didn't give his normal pre invasion speech so the marines just loaded into their amphibious assault vehicles and waited to be sent to the killing fields

Yukon was in the middle of a yawn when Happy tapped him on the shoulder...

"Hey Yukon, do you feel okay?"

Yukon stared at Happy with a blank face

"I think so, I don't know, I'm just ready to go home and sleep honestly" Yukon responded

"Oh, well, we thought that maybe you kinda forgot about the whole...revenge thing?" Happy asked

Yukon chuckled

"Yes, I forgot about it...happy now?" Yukon replied

"Yes, for sure" Happy said wagging his tail

When the vehicles reached shore everything was silent, not one single gun shot could be heard. The marines quickly went to work, setting up camp and head quarters. The dogs were used to search the area for mines and to their relief, they found none

The first day passed by and the marines still hadn't heard anything from the Japanese, not even one shot! The marines were restless, they knew the Japs were on the island but the trouble now was finding them, so the marines went to sleep that night with no way of knowing what was to come the following day or months.

The next morning the marines began marching into the island, the dogs in front to sense for any danger, the march was going rather quickly when the marines stopped to take a break...

"Man, It sure is humid!" One marine exclaimed

"Yeah, that's island weather for ya" another followed

"Yup, kinda reminds me of back home in Alabam..." his voice was cut short by the rip of a machine gun

The marines watched their pal fall to the ground with gaping holes and blood squirting out of his chest, the soldiers then hit the dirt, all in a daze of mass confusion. They couldn't figure out where the shots were coming from, the only thing they knew is that their comrade was dead.

The days and weeks that followed were nothing but bloody battles. Yukon was walking among the dead bodies that were filled with crawling maggots and swarming flies and the only prevailing thought in his mind was what Robert E Lee said so long ago...

"It is good that war is so terrible, or we should grow to fond of it."

Yukon could only shake his head at the piles of dead soldiers and let several tears slide down his cheeks as he passed through to his camp.

The battles seemed endless and pointless until one morning in the middle of May, the dogs were gathered together around an early morning camp fire, drinking whatever the marines gave them, when another marine ran up to the camp full of excitement and joy...

"Guys! Guys! You'll never guess what happened!!"

The other marines stared at the jubilant marine with sparks in their faces

"Yeah? And we never will know if you don't tell us!" One marine exclaimed

"Ok, ok, as of this morning Harry Truman accepted the unconditional surrender of the Germans...the war in Europe is over!!"

The marines gave each other smiles

"About time the army beat them stinking nazi's" one marine said as he took a sip of coffee

"Well, that's two down and one to go!!!!" A marine tells the others

"Yeah, and the last one so happens to be the one we're fighting!" John grumbles to the platoon

Yukon smiled and thought to himself..." _one step closer to going home"_

Later that night as Yukon was making his usual patrol rounds, he heard unfamiliar steps behind him, now his first thought was it was Edo. Yukon prepared himself and turned around to see not Edo but a younger husky, black and white with a soldiers pack

Yukon stared at the husky in curiosity for a moment or two then the husky pulled a paper out of his bag and gestured for Yukon to grab it. Yukon paced to the unknown husky taking care into each step while keeping a careful eye on him

When Yukon finally grabbed the paper, the husky saluted and marched into the dark night. Yukon watched the husky march away then read the mysterious paper...

" _Lieutenant Yukon_

 _I write to you with full knowledge of the difference gap that separates us, but also addressing an issue of major importance. As of today, I surrender the idea of trying to harm you and your family. I know you wish that we could've met in person, but circumstances involving protecting my emperor call for my return to Tokyo. Keep your head down old boy and hope you survive the war._

 _Captain Edo"_

Yukon read the letter and with a smile on his face put the paper in his backpack and continued with on the patrol.

Finally on a sunny day in July, the Japanese were defeated on the island of Okinawa, the marines couldn't have been happier. The capture of Okinawa marked an historic moment in history, for the Americans had taken a Japanese island.

So while the dogs were gathered around a campfire celebrating their victory, Yukon trotted to the platoon...

"Hey guys, guess what?"

The dogs searched Yukon's grin that spread from ear to ear

"What?" Happy asked

"This afternoon, at 2:30 standard American time, Emperor Hirohito told president Harry Truman, that the Japanese were ready to negotiate an unconditional surrender, to which Harry Truman accepted"

The dogs looked in disbelief

"You...you mean...that..."Happy stutters

"Yes, the wars over...we're going home" Yukon said with the biggest smile they'd ever seen

The dogs let out cheers and shouts of joy and happiness. Finally, after four long hard years...they were going home.

 **So what do y'all think? The story doesn't end here so don't worry.**


	14. Homecoming

**Homecoming**

The dogs were in the battleship cafeteria watching the marines play some cards and listening to their conversation...

"So you saw General MacArthur and emperor Hirohito when they signed the peace treaty?"

"Yup, it was pretty amazing alright"

"Wow, I bet it was"

A moment of silence followed...

"You guys know we're pulling into San Diego tomorrow...right?" A marine asked

The marines all turned their heads and stared at the younger marine

"No way"

"Yeah, we're pulling in tomorrow morning"

"What do you know, only one more day on this forsaken ocean"

The marines shared a laugh and continued playing

The next day, the battleship was filled with excitement, energy and enthusiasm, all the marines were ready to be home but the last few hours on the ship felt like long dragging years. But the ships chores still had to be done so the marines were cleaning and mopping the deck of the ship when Yukon saw it...

Yukon ran to tell the rest of the platoon and marines, they came and looked, they saw it, for the first time in years they saw it...home

The marines started cheering and hugging each other, only they would know the pain and suffering that they went through but now, it was all over.

The ship pulled into the bay, and the marines could see the all the Americans who had come to greet them home, there was streamers, a band, and everyone was cheering

When the marines finally got off the ship they ran into the crowd to find their families and loved ones, to hug and kiss them for the first time in four years

The marines were eventually loaded into trucks and sent back to the base, as they were heading to the base, the streets were crowded with people like a parade almost. One boy was riding his bike came up behind Yukon's truck and asked the marines in the truck...

"How many Japs did you kill yank? How many Japs?"

The marines could only stare at the boy in disbelief.

When the day was over the dogs were in the dog houses contemplating their future...

"Yeah, me and Happy are taking a train to Amarillo Texas tomorrow morning, then from there it's going to dodge city Kansas" Travis said

"Ok what about you John?" Yukon asked

"I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon and heading back to New York City...when are you leaving Yukon?"

"The morning after tomorrow" Yukon said with sigh

"Well that's ok, I won't get home after till then anyway" John said

"We're gonna leave early tomorrow morning, we got a lot of stops on the way" Travis said

Yukon nodded his head

"Yeah, but I'll make sure I'm up to tell you goodbye tomorrow morning"

"Thanks, I'm gonna miss you Yukon"

"And I'll miss all of you"

The next morning, Yukon woke up with Travis and Happy and told them goodbye,Travis was the best friend that Yukon never had. After they left off for their home, John and Yukon hung around the train station and talked about life after war until Johns time had come...

"Well...I'll be seeing ya" John said shaking Yukon's paw

"Take care of yourself now John" Yukon replied

Yukon watched John hop on the train as it slowly started pulling away

" _Only one more day, then I'll be home"_ Yukon said to himself

Later that night Yukon tossed and turned, he couldn't wait until he went home! But he still had to sleep one more night.

When morning finally came Yukon was wide eyed, bushy tailed and ready to go. He was the first one on the ship and was the first to fall asleep once it started pulling away from the dock, the last thing Yukon heard was the captain of the ship call out...

"Next stop, Nome Alaska!"

When Yukon woke up, the ship was about 15 minutes away from Nome, so naturally he became pretty excited, he couldn't wait to see his mom and dad and even...Kodi.

The sun was just starting to set when the ship pulled into the bay, the ramp dropped and Yukon walked down the ramp until he reached the last step, he took a deep breath and took the last step off the ship onto the ground

Now Yukon hadn't told anyone that he was coming home, so he was the only one walking down the street in the night.

He trotted down the street till he came to a house with an attached shed. He slowly walked to the shed door which was cracked open, he didn't barge inside immediately, instead he placed his ear near the door and listened

He heard his mom almost in tears and his dad trying to comfort her, after listening for about a minute he couldn't take it no more, he slowly opened the door and stepped inside

He looked and saw his mother slowly turn her head to look at the door, her facial expression was unexplainable, in return Yukon gave her a weak, wolffish smile and said...

"Hi mom"

Jenna jumped straight into the air and ran to out hug her son, after hugging his mom Yukon turned to see Balto with a huge smile, Balto walked up to Yukon and shook his paw, when Yukon left he was shorter than Balto, now he was taller than his dad.

After saying "hi" to his dad Jenna couldn't help but hug her son again, he was safe and far away from danger.

After catching up with his mom and dad, Yukon trotted over to the boiler room across town, he walked up to the door and without hesitation walked into the room. The conversation that was happening went silent after they realized that Yukon was there...

"Yukon?" Kodi asked

"That's my name" Yukon replied

The dogs began whispering until one asked...

"So, did you hide behind the front lines and expect us to praise you or what?"

Yukon snarled reveling his sharp teeth and stared at the dog, his eyes started turning yellow again...

"No, I was on the front lines and dropped by to say hi" Yukon answered

The dogs started whispering again, Yukon turned to Kodi and motioned for him to meet him outside, once outside Yukon told Kodi everything concerning Alue...

"Kodi, I think she's still alive"

"That's a good possibility, but where would we find her?"

"I don't know...somewhere in the Aluetian islands"

"Well I'll think about it"

"Thanks, I knew I could count on you"

"Your welcome, hey Yukon...I'm sorry that I was a jerk to you as pups,I just hope that you'll forgive me"

Yukon looked at Kodi with a smile

"Sure I will Kodi, I'll forgive you"

Kodi smiled

"Thanks Yukon"

Yukon turned and headed to his final destination, his home. He arrived and found James listening to the radio and Mr.Dilan was reading the newspaper while his wife did the dishes

Yukon scratched on the door, James walked up and answered the door...

"Hello..."

Yukon jumped on top of his boy James and started licking him, Mr.Dilan ran to the door to find Yukon...

"Yukon! Welcome home buddy!"

The family couldn't have been happier, the war was over, and their dog was alive and well.

Yukon finally completed his mission, he had made it home.

 **So what do y'all think? The only thing I'm gonna say is there's still one more chapter!**


	15. The old breed

**The Old Breed**

I was staring at the typewriter, thinking about how to end such a story when I heard a knock at the door...

"Come in"

The door opened, and a German Shepherd walked in

"Finished with it yet Dakota?"

"No, not yet. Just trying to figure out how to end my grandfathers story"

"Well, I think I can help with that"

He slipped me a piece of paper, I quickly scanned over it and looked back at him

"This is exactly what I need!"

"I knew it would help"

Without hesitation I went back to typing on my typewriter...

 ** _The old breed_**

 _John Dalmatian,_

 _After being honorably discharged from the marines, moved back to New York City where he found a girl that took interest in him, they got married right before he got a job as a journalist dog. He would later help the fbi in the drug bust of the decade in the sixties. Our friend John died in 1989._

 _Happy Lab,_

 _Returned to his family farm and married an Australian Shepherd. He would later take over the family farm. He passed away in 1991._

 _Travis Shepherd,_

 _One of the best soldiers lieutenant winters ever had. Would return to the Texas panhandle and marry his life long sweetheart. He then became a ranching cow dog, he would eventually help and train canine platoons during the Korean War...from San Diego. He and sweetheart still call Texas home._

 _Yukon Wolfe,_

 _After returning to Nome, lived the rest of his life in a small peaceful corner of the world, when asked about Korea he quickly replied "no...I've had enough of war". Yukon passed away in 1994, and as a testament to his character, over five hundred people showed up to his funeral. He and Travis remained best friends for his entire life._

I looked at my finished work then handed it to the German Shepherd...

"Do think Grandpa would be proud?"

He read it then looked at me with a smile

"I think so, man that was one tough generation. say, which one is grandpa anyway?"

I walked over to him and pointed on the paper

"Yukon is our grandpa, but he married Travis's sister"

"That's right, I remember now."

I walked to my desk and was just about to send my work off to print when my cousin asked me one more question...

"You did get the letter...didn't you?"

"What letter?" I asked

He held a another piece of paper in his hand

"Grandpa said we couldn't open the letter until he died"

I took the paper opened it and began reading it

"What does it say?"

I slowly looked at him with a smile

"Pack your bags Dallas, we're going to the Aleutian Islands"

"Why?"

"We've got a unsolved mystery to solve and a unfinished story to tell"

 **So what do y'all think? I thought it was a pretty good first fanfic. Anyway thanks for reviewing!!!!**


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